Tombraider
by TheDarkWitchofNarnia
Summary: His eyes appraised the blond girl with the wonky bobble hat. There was a kindness in them, a kindness that gave the impression that if it ever left, something dark and terrible would replace it. They were real wizard's eyes. "They call you Tombraider," He announced. "Duchess of the Thieves Guild, a rich amongst rags. But of course neither of those are your real names."
1. Tombraider

_In a land far, far away lies the kingdom of Fiore, a small peaceful nation of seventeen million, and a place filled with magic. Found in every home, bought and sold in every market place, for most magic is merely a tool, a mundane part of everyday life. For some, however, magic is an art and they have devoted their lives to its practice. These are the wizards. Banded together in magical guilds they ply their skills in search of fame and fortune. Many such guilds dot the landscape of Fiore, but there is a certain guild in a certain town that sores high above the rest. One from which countless legends have been born, a guild that would, with no doubt, continue to create legends well in to the future. It's name..._

"FAIRY TAIL" whooped the sea of children all gathered in front of the wooden stall. On their queue a small hand-puppet popped up and the cheers began.

The make shift puppet stall stood in the middle of the small town's centre where a fairly large crowd of its citizens gathered. The stall itself had been decorated with symbols of wizard guilds, the back drop for this particular show was the emblem of one of Fiore's most notorious guild; Fairy Tail. Like most magic guilds, Fairy Tail was especially well known for its powerful and popular wizards; infamous especially for their tendency to cause destruction as they took day to day magic to the extreme. While sometimes wizards and their guilds were not always the most popular with the everyday citizen, their stories and legends would grip the attention of all in the room with an imagination vivid enough. Even when such legends were performed in manners as crude as outdoor puppet shows.

Duchess smiled grimly from her position at the back of the plaza. It was at that time of year when the Guild of Performers set out across Fiore with their fire dancers and jugglers, minstrels and acrobats, stage productions and puppet shows. The summer sun and breeze created the best climate for people to amble around outside and listen to a wandering minstrel as he regaled his crowds with ballads of old heroes, be they wizard or knight. Oh yes, now was the prime time for the Performers Guild to make their cash. These felt puppets of magic and mayhem that caused children to laugh themselves giddy were undoubtedly where the money was. And where ever the money was, her guild was likely to follow.

"You ready Duchess?" Her companion asked.

In response, Duchess removed her dark cloak to reveal a simple but fairly pretty pink dress underneath. Her friend mimicked her showing a similar light blue frock beneath her own cover. She plucked two flowers from one of the hanging baskets next to them and the two girls wove them into their glossy locks of chestnut hair. They were practically identical in their beauty save for their eyes which glanced at each other with a conspiratorial smile. Time to go to work.

"Tag you're it!"

"Hey!"

And the two girls chased after each other in to the crowd, with many an 'excuse me' and apologetic 'coming through!'. Both rich, poor, young and old had gathered in the town centre's market place to see the famous Performers Guild's Fairy Tail puppet show with the children clustered at the front and their parents standing at the back. And with each bump and each apology the girls gave as they wove through the crowd, unnoticed by the occupants, their hands would slip oh so delicately towards their wallets, their purses, their rings, jewels; their money. Beautiful fleeting faces and lilting voices gave distraction to the treachery underneath and as quickly as a girl appeared she would then be gone, disappearing amongst the sea of people, the victim often not noticing a thing amiss till they got home. The trick was to be in and out before the show ended. The Performers Guilds always drew a good enough crowd to work with and were, unknowingly, the perfect cover and distraction for their work. The audience would never notice a thing.

Applause spattered from the distant courtyard as the two girls ducked down an alley way, and then down another, up a drainpipe and onto the safety of the rooftops. Every good thief learned how to navigate through a town via the roofs for they gave the best cover and people seldom looked up.

They chose a roof that over looked the square and collapsed out of sight with their backs against the sun heated tiles. Behind and beneath them the crowd began to disperse as chattering voices rose up to their ears.

"Good haul this year Dutch'." Raven said, her voice a thick northern brogue as she pulled the small sack from down the front of her blue dress. Even as she spoke her features began to change as her illusionment charm melted away. The fake button nose morphed into something hooked and sharper and her hair became a curious mixture of brown and red. Duchess knew that her own features must be changing to; on her lap her dainty soft pale hands were beginning to tan gold and harden.

"It always is in the country" She replied as they began to split their 'findings'. "Farmers truly are richer bastards than they make out."

"As are the land owners." Raven mused back, inspecting a large silver garnet ring. "Here, how many carats is this?"

Duchess was saved from answering as a clanking shadow appeared above them, blocking out the sun. Slowly and with hearts full of dread they both leaned their heads back against the slope of the roof and looked up long black boots, cream muscled thighs, blue pleated skirt, silver armour chest piece and into the beautiful face of a red haired, very angry woman. Holding a sword.

There was a pause. Then Duchess cleared her throat. "Titania." She gulped and tried to nod, the motion appearing unsuccessful due to the awkward angle of her head resting on her shoulder blades. "L-lovely day isn't it?"

The scowling woman opened her mouth, her browns eye glinting with rage but whatever she was going to say, Duchess never found out as Raven, blessedly, caused a distraction by applying the ancient art of a good shove. She was up and scampering across the roof tops without a second to lose with Raven, she assumed, doing the same in some other direction. They could meet up later. For now she needed to get as much distance between her and the hot tempered wizard before- A sword flew out of nowhere and landed point down on the roof in front of her, exactly where she was just about to step- before she started throwing swords.

Crap crap crap.

Duchess cursed as she skidded down the roof and leaped onto another, dislodged tiles falling down onto the street below. Behind her was the sound of a woman's bellowing war cry as Titania followed. She couldn't miss the irony that she was being chased by a Fairy Tail wizard right after she'd pick pocketed a crowd watching a performance about Fairy Tail. Come to think of it that was probably why Titania was there and now in hot pursuit of her. Why was it that it was always her that was chased. Why couldn't they go after Raven for once. Like seriously.

"Stop! You are under arrest." Titania's familiar voice shouted after her.

More knives, spears and maces followed in her wake, whizzing past her ears and thudding down in her path. She knew that they weren't aiming for her specifically; Titania wasn't a killer thank God, but she was a deterrent. And as it so happened hundreds of swords following in your wake and blocking your paths was quite deterring. One thought thudded through her mind as she dived round a chimney pot.

Get off the roof, get off the roof, get off the roof.

People in the cobbled streets below were all looking up, following the roof chase with squinting eyes. If she got down on the streets maybe Titania would be less likely to hurl her weapons after her. And opportunity arose as she saw an oxen cart being pulled along the cobble street with its back full of hay. This is too easy, she thought as hurled herself sideways off the roof and barrel rolling onto the cart. She'd only just judged the distance correctly, as her butt collided with the edge of the hay and she slid off painfully onto the street.

Just as she regained her balance another spear thudded into the wood of the retreating cart and she swung round to see Titania advancing on her, apparently she also had gotten off the roof. If looks could kill, the red headed wizard would have committed genocide by now. The crowds of pedestrians seemed to part naturally as she walked through them, her armour glistening in the sun. There came a loud clanking sound as the city guards appeared at the end of the road forming a barrier of striped blue and yellow. Their spears were raised and pointed in her direction. She was trapped.

"Duchess of the thieves guild, you are under arrest again for theft, resisting capture and countless other petty crimes." Declared Titania as she continued to advance. Even though she didn't speak loudly her voice still carried clearly throughout the street in its annoying authoritative tone.

Duchess panted and surveyed the scene. Now would be the time when she said some witty and flirtatious comeback so as to retain her dignity. Only nothing came to mind. And there was very little dignity to have when you were nearly captured with your face half morphed between your own and another. Plus jumping off that roof on to the cart hadn't exactly been the most graceful of escapes. Her butt really hurt.

Titania was close now. She had the shackles ready in her hands. How many times had they done this now, Duchess thought idly as in the distance there came the rumbling of an extremely overworked engine.

"This time I'll make sure that you stay locked up." Titania promised as she clad Duchess's compiling wrists with iron. Duchess spat a stray bit of morphing brownish blond hair out of her mouth in defeat.

"Don't you have anything to say for yourself?" Titania was asking just as from around the corner a bright blue magic-mobile burst in to view and sped at full pelt down the street. Duchess's eyes went wide.

"MOVE!"

Titania reacted instantly and dodged out of the way of the moving vehicle just in time. Duchess wasn't so lucky and the magic-mobile hit her with full force and she rolled up the tiny bonnet, over the drivers head and landed on the front window lying spread eagled off the edge of the roof. The magic mobile carried on at full down the street, heading straight towards the lines of soldiers. Pedestrians screamed and ran out of the way as the vehicle swerved dangerously down the road.

"Move ye head Dutch I canna see where I'm goin'." Raven shouted from the driver's seat and physically pushed Duchess's dangling head to one side. The guards yelled as they broke ranks around the vehicle that otherwise shot through them. There were shouts behind them, one of the voices distinctly belonging to Titania. A wayward spear got stuck in one of the headlights. Duchess made an incoherent noise. They turned sharply right down a tight alley way and the screeching nails-on-a-chalk-board sound of the wing mirrors against the stone walls rang through Duchess's throbbing upside-down head. Thankfully it stopped when the mirrors snapped off.

"Sorry what was that?" Raven shouted as she tried to utilise the gear stick only for it too to snap off. So instead she used it to prop Duchess's head up, stopping her blood from racing towards her brain.

"You broke me." Duchess moaned again as her world levelled out. Head now straight she was able to see the chaos of the street behind them. Broken market stalls and smashed goods littered the road but otherwise they were good. However she thought too soon as around the corner behind them veered Titania, red hair flying manically behind her in the wind and with a face like fury. Apparently she'd gotten hold of the oxen cart, hay rising everywhere her wake. She let out a bellow as her eyes narrowed on the blue magic mobile, urging the ox on.

Shit.

"Can ye get us out of here?" Raven shouted, as Duchess spun herself around and landed feet first next to her, her iron clad hands grasping for something to clutch on to. Raven leaned out the side of the magic-mobile and looked back. "Is she still followin' us?"

" _WALL!_ " Duchess screamed and they made a sharp swerve, the spear splintering against the bricks.

The magic-mobile hurtled down another street, running over everything in its path. Raven began waving the gear stick around screaming at the street goers to " _get out of the bloody way!_ " Duchess just clung to vehicle, feeling slightly sick at the bouncing motion of the wheels over cobble.

Behind them she heard Titania yell at the guards " _Don't let them out of your sight_!"

There was a gap in one of the side walls up ahead. "Ready to leave when you are!" She shouted over the wind.

The magic-mobile skidded sideways to a stop as it faced the side alley and Titania and the guards watched the driver slam the acceleration and the machine sped down the side alley with Duchess leaning out of it slightly, just managing to flip them off before they disappeared out of view.

"That one's a dead end!" One of the soldiers shouted.

"We got them now boys!"

Titania pulled her oxen to a halt as the guards jogged past her towards the side alley. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion; they were too late. When the guards rounded the corner onto the short alley way they found it completely empty. Both magic-mobile and occupants had seemingly disappeared. Had the men arrived a second earlier however, some of them might of swore that they saw a faint hint of blue in the air.

* * *

The thieves guild owned many properties within Fiore, and had many safe houses. However if it had to chose a place to be its 'guild hall' then the underground taproom in the back streets of Crocus would be the winner. It seemed suitable that the place that served the most beer would be named HQ, as alcohol got the tongue talking and information passed easily within its four walls -with information being an important trade within a thief's line of work, the bar acted like the trade centre.

Kohl, the barman was standing drying mugs with his grubby cloth. Kohl was not his real name, but like most members of the thieves guild he chose to leave that identity behind and replace it with code name. And, like most members of the thieves guild, no one knew what his real name was, which was how he liked to keep it. Indeed, Kohl was the name given to him some time ago when he began lining his eyes with black. In fact, everything about him was black, from his hair, and eyes to his leather clothes and thieves guild symbol, stamped brazenly onto his left hand for all to see: a black shadow of lock pick which double sided as a key.

The bar was positioned at the back of the smoky room directly opposite the door so that he would always know who had entered and who had left. In between him and the door were the rows of benches and secluded tables. Four stone columns set in a square held up the roof. There were no windows. Orbs of fire lacrima floated in the air around the tables casting a dim light over the space. It was quiet, typical for a Tuesday afternoon. The odd regular or client dotted the room, shrouded by a hood or hunched over a mug, one bastard fast asleep in the corner hand ready on his knife.

Kohl watched through the smoky air as Duchess stumbled down the last of the stone steps and into the room, an exhausted Raven slumped across her shoulders. Somewhere above ground was the battered remains of a blue magic-mobile crash parked into a lamppost. Which had subsequently fallen onto it.

"Have a nice country stroll Chess?" He asked eyeing the way Duchess dumped her partner on the stool in front of him and then collapsing on the one beside her.

She ignored him and looked around. "Where's Doc?"

"Working." Kohl replied. "Nice dresses."

She ignored him further. "I think I cracked a rib. Maybe procured a concussion."

"And her?" He jerked his head at Raven.

"Magic-mobile." Duchess said as if that explained all. "We were bust by Titania. Tried to arrest us again."

A faint smile quirked at Kohl's mouth. The renown Fairy Tail wizard Erza Scarlet otherwise dubbed Titania Queen of the Fairies was single handedly responsible for quite a few of his comrades ending up in jail. And the shattered olive-skinned girl in front of him was usually the one breaking them out again. The two of them had a sort of ongoing feud. They also had a habit of running into each other on missions which funnily enough didn't help their budding relationship.

"It's funny you should talk of Titania, as there's a job for you concerning Fairy Tail." He informed her wryly, sliding a mug across the counter.

"Pass." Duchess grunted before downing its contents.

"I wouldn't be too quick Chess. It's a specialty job, you might not have a choice." He watched as she chugged down the contents before slowing significantly and opening her eyes to watch him."You're the only one round here called Tombraider after all." He added.

"I'm called Duchess too, don't mean I'm nobility". She muttered over of rim of her mug. Kohl just quirked an eyebrow at her. She resolved, finishing her drink and setting it down. "Whose tomb, what's the item, how is Fairy Tail involved." She asked levelly watching his eyes.

"It's a dagger." Kohl told her as he set to work refilling her mug. "Ancient and magical with a client in Bosco who will pay good money for it. A share of which is yours of course. The tomb's owner is irrelevant, some priest I think. But it's heavily guarded with magic and to get inside you need the key. And the last person to have had the key is-"

"A member of Fairy Tail." She finished, her face passive.

"The master in fact." Kohl continued in his deadpan sort of way as he slipped as bag of herbs under Raven's half morphed beakish nose. "Good old Markarov. You'll have to pay him a visit."

Duchess was silent for a moment.

"Titania _really_ hates me you know."

Kohl hummed his agreement. Raven began to stir. Her awkward nose wrinkling.

"She'd probably try and arrest me on the spot. Or cause a huge fight. Or kill me. Or all three."

"That's why it would be a diplomatic mission." Kohl said as he raised Raven's head up to a mug. "You'd go in peace, as they say. Run up the white flag."

Raven began to choke.

Duchess continued trying."Well then surely I could get an ambassador to go in my stead."

"Don't be a coward Chess," Kohl warned placing Raven's head back onto the counter. "You'll be the one retrieving the dagger. So you can be the one to get the key. Any way you have connections with the old man."

Duchess blinked. "I do?"

Raven shifted next to her. "mmhmm's happenin?" She mumbled into the probably grubby bar top.

"You've exhausted your magic energy." Kohl told her bluntly like a parent fighting for patience with an inept toddler. "You're illusionment charm is stuck half way. Again."

Raven's response was incoherent. Duchess's hands flew up to examine her own half-morphed face. Kohl noticed the motion and gave her a sideways wink.

"Don't worry Chess you're still a stunner." He said in his wry way. Duchess gave him the finger.

Next to her Raven fell off her bar stool and began snoring.

* * *

A few weeks later...

She came to the guild four times.

The first time she appeared hovering by the large double doors of Fairy Tail for nearly ten minutes before she was noticed, which was rare for a new face. Clothes scruffy and unkempt with walking shoes and a rucksack, she was clearly a traveller straight off the road. And a nervous one too. Mirajane noticed the way she shifted from foot to foot, chewing her lip. Her eyes flickered quickly over the faces in the guild hall, fearful of looking for too long. And then, gathering courage with a huge breath, she entered Fairy Tail. Mirajane watched her approach the bar, shoulders hunched head down and another word came to her mind: Intimidated. Well, it wasn't something Mirajane hadn't seen before: sometimes new members were a bit daunted by Fairy Tail's reputation and rowdy members. Usually within a couple of days their shyness was beaten out of them.

The general chatter in the hall died down a bit as more people took notice of the newcomer. She apparently noticed too and looked up only to blush and quicken her pace towards the bar.

"Timid one in't she?" One man, Wakaba, grunted to his drinking buddy after catching the girl's eye and giving her a 'welcoming' grin.

"Yeah but with your face who can blame her?" His friend, Macao answered.

To save the girl another set of eyes, Mirajane focussed her attention on the mug she was drying and looked up only when she reached the bar.

"Hey there, welcome to Fairy Tail!" She smiled warmly at her. "I'm Mirajane, how can I help you?" Her enthusiasm worked as the tension between the girl's shoulders eased a little and she managed a small, grateful smile back. Now that she was close, Mirajane could get a proper look at her and, as she glanced her over, couldn't help but feel a small twinge of disappointment at her lack of flare. For the girl was, at best: ordinary. Somewhere within her late teens or early twenties, Mirajane guessed. Her face was plain and average and splattered with feint freckles over an olive tan, the kind of face that would blend easily into a crowd and be forgotten in an instant. There was nothing about her appearance that caught the eye, from her simple clothing, grey eyes and dirty blond hair that was half hidden under a huge bobbled hat.

So far, her first impression was nothing remarkable.

"Hey, I'm um, here to see the guild master?" Her expression was a mixture of awkward and apologetic, which probably wasn't helped by the prying eyes from around the hall that were trained on their conversation.

Mirajane's smile also turned apologetic. "I'm sorry, but the master is away on business at the moment."

"Oh," she faltered. "When will he come back?"

"Over the next couple of days, I think. He wasn't very specific on when he would return."

"Okay, I'll just.. come by soon then?" The girl's face seemed to fall a bit and she took a couple steps away from the bar.

Mirajane, ever helpful asked, "Would you like me to take a message?"

"No, no" the girl replied quickly, backing away. "That's fine."

And as quickly as she had came, she left.

* * *

The second time she returned to the guild, she never entered the building. The day was warm and the sun shined brightly down onto the front courtyard causing many of the guild members to choose relaxing outdoors, basking in the warm summer breeze while it lasted.

"What's up darlin'?" shouted one of the members to her as she lingered by the gate. "Haven't seen you around here before."

"Is master Makarov in?" She called back from the safety of the gate.

The guy shook his head. "Sorry love he's away on business."

"Alright, thankyou!" And she left again before he had a chance to shout her back.

* * *

Gossip and secrets spread like wildfire in the best of communities and the Fairy Tail guild was no different. While the girl's two appearances hadn't held much excitement, it was new. And new things often promise excitement however trivial they seem. Thus by the third time she called on the guild, her presence was expected.

Unlike the sudden summer downfall that came out of nowhere. Rain thundered down on the streets of Magnolia, causing a generally agreed curfew amongst the citizens. Unfortunately for the odd rebellious stragglers staying dry was not an option.

Cold, and drenched through to the bone, the girl arrived at the guild for the third time and knocked thrice on the large double doors. Opening those doors seemed like steeping through a portal to another dimension. In contrast to the bleak and dismal surroundings, the inner hall of the Fairy Tail guild was roaring with life, food and warmth. On a stage music was being performed and the rows of benches was filled with its members all eating, chatting and joining in on the raucous laughter that swelled through the room. The internal celebrations meant that she was not immediately recognised, already part way across the room before she started attracting eyes.

Like many of her comrades, Mirajane also didn't notice the appearance of the girl until she was suddenly standing right in front of her, a pool of water already forming where she stood.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail, I'm Mirajane, how can I help you?" She said immediately, an automatic response to every new face.

"Yeah hi," The girl shifted awkwardly. "I've visited before. Is the master about?"

Mirajane blinked at her and then recognition flooded back to her. "It's you!" She cried. "But goodness you're soaked!" Indeed now that she looked properly the girl who appeared to be doing her very best impression of a drowned rat was the same girl who had visited twice before and the one that had held moderate speculation amongst the guild members. She even was wearing the same clothes and hat, only in sodden mode. Mirajane couldn't understand how she hadn't immediately recognised the girl. Perhaps she just had one of those faces.

Mirajane frowned at the girls wet appearance."Come you should warm yourself by the fire, you'll catch a cold!"

The girl didn't budge. "Is the master in?" She repeated through semi-blue lips.

Mira smiled apologetically. "I'm afraid the master has been held up on his journey back to us. But he should be back in a couple more days. Is there any way I may assist you with your business with the master?" Her wish to be helpful barely contained her underlying curiosity and she looked almost eagerly at the girl.

But she was met with downcast eyes and an awkward stutter. "I'll return in a few days then. Thank you for your time." She bowed and began to walk away.

"Hey girly you'll be mad to try and go out in the rain." Called one of the men sitting at the bar. "You'll probably end up drowning." He grinned and gave her a wink.

She gave him a rushed smile. "I'll be fine."

"Why don't you take shelter in here for a while? Have a drink and warm up?" He continued in an easy way, some of his drinking companions turning to watch her.

She shuffled backwards, mumbling something about "not a member so I?"

"So?" The guy boomed. "Don't need to be a member for me to treat a nice girl like you for a drink?"

The girl faltered at the compliment and then raised her eyebrows at him. He carried on smiling teasingly, and next to him his drinking buddy rolled his eyes.

"Really Wacaba. She's half your age." Macao shook his head. "Don't mind my friend here," He continued to the girl. "He's just trying to be friendly." The girl didn't say anything, creating an awkward silence.

And then, "Well I better go. Good to meet you." And she stumbled away again like she couldn't get away fast enough.

Macao blinked. "Was it something I said?"

Wakaba returned to his drink. "Well done Macao, you scared away the newbie."

"I didn't even get a chance to ask her name." Mirajane sighed suddenly, looking genuinely upset.

Immediately the men were on to her with avid reassurance. "Don't worry Mirajane. She'll be back soon. " Wakaba said soothingly.

"Yeah if she's after the master then she'll have to come back." Macao continued.

And come back she did.

* * *

Lucy Heartfilia sighed with content as she sat down at one of the benches and stretched. It was good to be back. Whilst going away on missions was exciting and all, coming back to Fairy Tail was always one of the best parts.

"Have we missed much?" She asked Mirajane as she arrived with a drink.

"Not really, it's been fairly quiet with you lot away."

"Isn't that always the case?" Lucy joked, looking over at where Natsu and Happy were shouting loudly at other guild members about their adventure.

Gray grumbled beside her. "Always causing a fuss." He frowned over at Natsu. "Hey you wanna keep it down!" He shouted at him.

Natsu turned around immediately on the defence. "You got a problem buddy?"

"Maybe!" Gray growled back.

Lucy sighed as the two locked heads in the background. Some things will never change.

"Um, excuse me, but is the master back yet?" A small female voice said behind her and Lucy turned round to see a blonde girl around her age standing tentatively at the bar, shifting her weight from foot to foot. Lucy was sure the girl hadn't been there a second ago, but she hadn't seen her enter.

Mirajane gave the girl a pitying look. "Sorry but he's not back yet." She looked genuinely sorry.

The girl mumbled some kind of apology and began to back away. Right into Erza. There was a small clang as she hit her armour.

"If it's the master you are after, you can always also do your business with me." Erza boomed importantly to the slightly trembling girl. Lucy recognised it as her form of saying a friendly hello. She wasn't sure if the new face would catch the friendly tone though. In fact the girl had flinched the moment she saw Erza. She began to back away, looking determinedly at the floor and tugging at her hat, pulling down her forehead and almost over her eyes.

"There's no need to be shy, I-" Erza broke off suddenly frowning at the girl. "I know you. Your eyes are familiar." She looked thoughtfully at the girl who couldn't get away quick enough. In her hurry she did not look where she was going and stumbled backwards into Gray's naked back. She immediately jumped away with a yelp at the touch of bare skin and tripped over his shin, sprawling unceremoniously on the ground between him and Natsu. They both looked down in mild surprise at the interruption of their fright. There was a pause as the girl took them in, her eyes wide as they jumped from Gray's open full frontal nudity to Nats's spontaneous combustion of the hands and tongue, that was blaring along happily. And for the icing on the cake Happy flew down and landed on Natsu's shoulder, looking curiously down at her, half eaten fish in hand.

"Hi!" She blurted out and the boys answered with nonchalant ease as if they weren't currently naked and on fire

"Hey."

"How you doin?"

"I like your hat!"

Then something clicked in Erza and her face turned terrible.

" _You._ "

The girls eyes flicked from the boys' to Erza's.

"Crap."

" _GET OUT OF MY GUILD_!"

Lucy wasn't quite sure what had transpired but suddenly the entire guild hall was in a whirl of chaos as the new girl ran and a roaring Erza chased. She stood back and watched the spectacle in polite shock as Erza screamed in anger and the girl yelled in terror. In soon became a game of dodge as Erza began to hurl whatever she could at the girl in an attempt to get her outside. The girl on her part and ran and dodged as gracefully and as shittingly terrified as a gazelle. She stopped and ducked down to a squat as Erza threw an entire table at her. It flew over her head and crashed into some unfortunate guild members. The girl jumped back up are stared at Erza.

" _Dude!_ " She exclaimed in equal awe and fear.

" _You are not welcome here_!" Erza screeched and the sort of fight continued.

Mirajane watched them in safety behind the bar. She gave out a nervous chuckle as Erza started on the chairs.

"So who is this chick?" Natsu asked casually as he leaned against the bar, now extinguished. Lucy also looked at Mirajane curiously.

"She's been turning up for over a week now, trying to see the master." She informed them as the chase moved up into the beams. "Nobody knows who she is though, she never left her name. She always seemed quite shy and timid..." Mirajane trailed off doubtfully as above them the girl in question let out a string of colourful curses that would make a sailor blush.

"Yeah she certainly gives off a mouse like impression." Gray said dryly as she fell from the rafters landed ninja like on her hands and flipped onto her feet and scampered off as Erza dropped the chandelier on her.

"I wonder how Erza knows her." Lucy began to speculate out loud. "Maybe something bad happened between them last time they met, so Erza is angry.."

"Nah I think this is just Erza's way of saying hello." Natsu said in his happy go lucky way. He, like most of the other guild members enjoyed a good Erza fight when it wasn't directed at him.

The girl however did not. " _ENOUGH!_ " She shrieked finally from her foetal position behind an upturned table clutching her head. " _Stop throwing things at me!_ "

Her shout left the guild in silence as Erza stood panting in the wreckage, which was mostly splintered wood and a chandelier.

The girl rose steadily to her feet, looking at Erza with a fearful intensity as if she were a wild animal that could bite at any moment, her hands stretched out with reasoned caution.

"I'm not here to fight you." She said slowly and carefully still subconsciously backing away slightly.

"Then why are you here, child?" Came a voice from the doorway. Sun streamed in past the figure casting a huge twisted shadow which stretched along the ground right up to their feet. In comparison it's owner was relatively tiny. In fact the owner was relatively tiny in comparison with a lot of things. His strange Jester's hat did little to help with this height factor. The old man in the door way took a step forward, his old wrinkled looked tired in the light of the guild hall those his eyes were very much awake.

"Master you're back!" Cried Mirajane happily unaware of the tension in the room as Makarov stepped further into the room. Both he and the girl were watching each other, eyeing one another up.

Eventually he spoke. "Erza I was not aware we were in the habit of throwing furniture at guests."

Erza blanched. "But Master this is-"

"I am well aware who she is. Why do you think I hurried back so soon to meet her." His eyes appraised the blond girl with the wonky bobble hat. There was a kindness in them, a kindness that gave the impression that if it ever left, something dark and terrible would replace it. They were real wizard's eyes. "They call you Tombraider," He announced. "Duchess of the Thieves Guild, a rich amongst rags. But of course neither of those are your real names. No, I do believe you once went by Rosemary North."

Rosemary North, Tombraider, Duchess of the Thieves Guild, a rich amongst rags blinked. "You researched me."

"I knew your grandmother." He corrected, his hand tripling in size to pick up a table and two chairs, setting them either side.

"You and the rest of Fiore." She muttered back, taking the wordless offer and sitting down. All eyes and ears in the guild were on them now. And all were alert. There was no love lost between the two guilds. If that girl made one wrong move towards their master then she would immediately find herself victim to a hundred different forms of magic. Suddenly no one remembered the shy, timid girl who had stumbled into their guild three times before.

If Makarov noticed the atmosphere in the room, he didn't show it. "Now Rosemary- or would you prefer Rose or something? I hope you don't mind me calling you by your real name, but I don't believe in all your silly code name nonsense."

"I prefer Rory, but I don't care what you call me." Said Rory. "I hope you don't mind if I don't call you master, only I don't believe in all your silly hierarchy nonsense." There was a slight grumble that rippled through the room. A smile touched Makarov's lips.

"Rory North," He muttered, "Rory North. It's a good name for a thief. An even better name for a wizard."

"I'm not a wizard," Rory said immediately.

"No, I do suppose that door closed for you years ago," He murmured more to himself than to her. "What did your grandmother call you?"

Rory sat for a while before saying quietly, "Rosie."

"Then Rosie I shall call you." Makarov decided.

"Master," Erza broke in, every ounce of her being protesting against this casual conversation. Makarov's kindness appeared to be physically straining her. "This girl is dangerous, you shouldn't let her stay in here. She'll give Fairy Tail a bad name!"

"Aye she looked pretty dangerous when she was tearing down the building and throwing furniture about." Makarov said dryly giving Erza a pointed look and Erza face twisted in shock as if she'd only just noticed the half destroyed guild around her for the first time.

"My apologises for participating in the destruction of your guild hall." Rory cut in quickly and inclining her head formally. "My intention was a peaceful visit I assure you. I have a white flag in my bag and everything."

Makarov waved her comment aside impatiently. "Yes, Yes, no harm done. What you think this is the first brawl we've had in here? Drop the formality child and speak with me plain. When you get as old as me formality just becomes a waste of your precious time. Now are you here as yourself or as an ambassador for your guild."

"I'm here as me, but for my guild." Rory said, hoping that made sense.

"And what is it that Fairy Tail can do for you?"

"Not Fairy Tail, just you." Rory corrected. "I'm after a certain item, a key that leads to the tomb of St Okator. My sources told me that you were the last person known in possession of the key."

"And why would a girl like you want to enter the tomb of St Okator." Makarov asked suspiciously.

Rory shrugged. "You said it yourself, they call me Tombraider. I'm just running a job just like your wizards do. Some guy in Bosco will pay good money to have a certain artefact in that tomb retrieved. But I need the key to get in. I will pay you for it." She looked expectantly at him.

"I don't have it." he replied bluntly.

The set back could be seen on her face before she collected herself and became polite and passive again. "Then I will pay you for any information leading to its whereabouts." She began to pull her bag up onto her lap but Makarov's derisive snort stopped her.

"I don't want your blood money." He scoffed, his eyes sharp. "That's what they call the money of a thief is it not?"

"Actually that's more for assassins, but I can understand if you wish to apply it to me also." Rory replied rather coolly. "But how will I pay you for the information if you don't wish to be paid?"

"You can pay me in the true currency of your guild. Secrets and favours." Makarov shot back. "I'll be telling you the secret of the key's whereabouts, and in return you shall owe me a favour."

Rory eyed him. "Is that me personally, or my guild?"

"You personally. I would be surprised if you had enough authority to put your guild in that position. Do we have a deal?" He stretched his short arm over table, his equally small hand pointing at her.

Rory made no move. "What kind of favour would you ask of me?"

Makarov shrugged impatiently. "I'm sure I'll know when I need it. Perhaps in the future I will need to you raid a tomb for me as well." He looked pointedly at her, his arm never wavering. "Do you accept my terms?"

She didn't say anything but took his tiny hand in her large one and the shook. Immediately Makarov jumped down from the chair he'd been standing on and Rory also jumped to her feet.

"His name is Artau Henner. He's an ex guild master to another wizarding guild and an old friend of mine, a bit of a history enthusiast. I gave him the key as a retirement gift some years ago, as far as I know he still has it." As he spoke he walked her to the door. "He owns an estate down by Aster Valley. I better warn you his wife has dogs. I'll contact you when it's time to fulfil your favour but for now good luck with your tomb Rosie and try and return the key afterwards."

And the door shut onto her back before she could even turn around and say bye. Makarov physically sagged against the wood and let out a long sigh. He looked up through his heavy brow to see every face in his guild watching him. His children. Erza was the first to move.

"Master I can't believe you made a deal with her!" Erza cried disapprovingly. "She's one of them, she's can't be trusted."

"She has her grandmother's eyes you know." Makarov mused distantly, and Lucy wasn't even sure if he had heard Erza. "Grey eyes. Wise eyes." He looked at Erza. "You may not agree with her morals, and I am well aware of the feud that has been going on between you two, but I see no harm in helping her make a living."

"A living where she is breaking and entering a dead man's grave and stealing his possessions!"

Makarov shrugged. "He's dead. I'm sure he won't need it."

Erza let out a huff, opened her mouth to say something then thought better of it and stormed away in the way only Erza could.

Lucy watched her go with a frown. "I don't understand, how does Erza know that girl? They have sort of feud?"

Natsu shrugged. "Beats me! Hey I wonder if she can fight, I've never duelled a member of the thieves' guild before!"

Lucy sighed and turned to her usual source of information, Mirajane looked thoughtfully after Erza.

"I heard in the past that Erza had some trouble with a member of the thieves guild. I guess Duchess, or rather Rory North is that member which caused her a load of trouble. They keep running into each other I think, and Erza gets very frustrated when she escapes justice. That street chase Erza was in last month must have been with her!"

Lucy too could vaguely remember that incident a few weeks ago when Erza had come storming back into the guild after taking some time off to view the summer's entertainment in the neighbouring villages. She'd been grumbling something about an old acquaintance come to think of it.

Of course Natsu's brain took in all that information and came to the only conclusion it could. "Wow! If she's managed to evade Erza then she must be pretty powerful! That settles it, next time she comes by the guild I'm challenging her to a fight!" He raised his fist in the air with determination, also ready grinning at the prospect of another opponent to beat. Behind him Happy cheered his agreement.

Mirajane smiled indulgently at Natsu, absentmindedly cleaning a mug. "I wonder when that will be Natsu."

It turned out to be not that long.

* * *

As Lucy walked home that evening her mind was filled with the strange thief girl. She'd heard of the thieves guild, of course, who in Fiore hadn't. But never had she came across one of their members before. She'd expected men for some reason, with capes and cowls that obscured the face, not Duchess. Not Rory North.

The setting sun cast the street and canal in shades of gold and pink with the houses causing a line of dark shadow so the street was split evenly between the dark and the light. Lucy wandered down that line like a trapeze artist, arms spread wide as she balanced on solid ground between the two sides. She gained an odd sense of pleasure from the action, the writer inside of her enjoying the symbolism of she, Lucy Heartfilia walking the line between light and darkness. Although if she was true to herself she was way to inclined to light side to every really wander towards the shadow. It was warmer on the light side. Plus she could get a much needed tan from the sun. Part of her wondered what had drawn Rory North to the shadows.

Lucy's musings consumed her as she walked home much like they always did. Though she was brought out of them as her path approached a group of young girls whose parents had let them stay out later than usual due to the long bright evenings of summer. The pigtailed and plaited girls were making of the most of their time as they played their skipping game, weaving in and out of each other, their voice high and full of girlish laughter.

 _Maybe you've heard of a terrible place where the scoundrels of Ishgar collect in a lair_. They sang as they ducked underneath their rope and began to wind it round one of the girls like a maypole while she tried to un-twirl it.

 _Maybe you've heard of that mythical place called the Court of Miracles,  
Hello, you're there!  
Where the lame can walk!  
And the blind can see!  
But the dead don't talk, so you won't be around to reveal what you've found!_

The girl tied up didn't manage to unravel in time and the sounds of the girls squeals and laughter hung in the warm air as Lucy passed them a sad smile on her face. It was at times like this she wished she'd had a normal childhood like that, where she could have stayed out late in the streets singing about mythical guilds and what not. Where she could have had friends, who existed outside the pages of a book.

 _They have a method for spies and intruders,  
rather like hornets protecting their hive._

Lucy found herself singing along lightly under her breath to the children's nursery rhyme.

 _There in the Court of Miracles where it's a miracle if you get out alive!_

* * *

Rory North was in total darkness. As was the usual in ancient burial sites. The dead didn't need to see, they were after all, dead. And somehow she didn't think old priest Whatshisface Okator had been expecting many visitors. They never did. Well not counting thieves of course. Her kind were always given some of the more warmer receptions when it came to graves. Quite literally in some cases. Rory remembered ruefully of tomb of a mage in Minstrell who had a fondness for fire glyphs. It had been the only time she'd ever had toast on the job before. It appeared Okator had seen no reason for everlasting fire to light his hall ways. Even so this blackness would not do.

Rory pulled out from her satchel a couple smooth black stone, and bringing her open palm to her mouth, gentle blew on them. The stones began to glow under her breathe, ebbing in and out of life like embers of a fire. Finally she got them set at a dim pallid light, and finally look around. It appeared her sewage tunnel had opened out in a large stone hall, complete with crumbling columns that still amazingly managed to hold up the roof. This had to be it.

The cold stone walls of the anti chamber were cast a putrid shade of green from her light. The thread bare tapestries hung sorrowfully off their rails. They looked like they would crumble to dust if she touched them. She was sure once this room would have been filled with treasure however by the looks of things, grave robbers had looted the place years ago. But she was confident that what she was after hadn't been touched. Moss leaked down from the ceiling and the place smelled damp. Looking up she did a quick bit of mental geography and figured that she must be under the river. She glanced back again at the old columns, if they had held this long, surely they could last another ten minutes. She began to move quickly down the large corridor, not particularly wanting to idle. Once this place must have been roaring with riches and grandeur, now it looked sick.

She'd had it on good authority that not another human had been in this place in over hundred years. But as her foots nimbly crossed the stone paving, the dim light of her stones picked up something disturbing. The dust covered floor had been unsettled. Bringing her stones closer, she knelt, face inches from the ground she saw the footprints as clear as if they had been made in snow. And they were recent too. Incredibly so.

Her stomach now tight, she drew a knife from her boot and continued more cautiously through the room. Soon her circumference of light fell on a tremendous set of wooden doors at least two stories high. Carved into the frame work were some of the most obscure runes Rory had ever seen. She didn't need to understand them to know what horrors they promised towards trespassers. All tombs had them. Kind of like the ancient form of 'NO ENTRY' signs only with some horrid enchantment on them like sudden decapitation of all moving beings beyond a certain point. Or the sudden combustion of a hundred hidden fire glyphs. All at once. But worse than the runes, the door stood slightly ajar, and fire light glowed through it, a rich orange in contrast to her pallid green. Suddenly all the those weeks of painstakingly trying to procure the bloody key all fell a bit short, and the lump of shaped metal in question weighed all the heavier and useless in her pocket.

Please let them be dead, please let them be dead. She thought to herself as she bit by bit pushed the door open and peered her head round. Well at least she knew she'd gotten the right place. The intruders torch lay burning on the dusty ground casting demonic shadows on the relatively tiny tomb. The centre of the room held an enormous golden stone coffin on a raised platform complete with steps. By each wall, like they four compass points around the dead man were disfigured statues of what had to be previous monks or servants. In front of the coffin stood a man, thankfully with his back to her. He looked as if he was surveying the coffin thinking on what to do next. Rory hung back silently at the door, thinking quickly of what to do.

The dagger was, according to legend, buried inside the coffin. And the coffin was, according to legend, heavily guarded by magic. As was the route. Well she'd taken the unconventional way in to be sure, the sewers were not exactly the front door and so she'd yet to encounter any of the curses. However if this guy had come in the normal way, then he must of survived those ancient passages laden with booby traps and somehow managed to dispel whatever curse lay on the door, after all he didn't have the key to safely enter; that of which lay with her. That meant that he was either an extremely powerful wizard or incredibly lucky. Neither one would be a man she'd want to fight, but then again he was the best candidate for opening the coffin.

And he did indeed open the coffin with a blast of destructive force that caused the ground the shake and Rory to wince. Not that he seemed noticed. His spell, whatever it was, had served its purpose and the lid to the sarcophagus flew off and went crashing into one the statues with a tremendous smash of broken stone. The eyes of the statues around them began to glow red. There was a rushing sound. Rory's heart was in her mouth as she watched the man step up to the open coffin and reach in.

She took a breath and stepped into the light. "I wouldn't touch that if I were you."

The man whirled around, the force of his spell flying at her so fast she barely dodged in time. The door and stone exploded behind her as the spell hit and the man was already throwing another at her as she scampered across the floor.

Crap crap crap crap.

Unrelenting force after unrelenting force followed her around the room as he threw full offensive at her until one of the blasts caught her and she was sent crashing to the ground. With one hand trained out towards her in a clear threat he quickly grabbed the old rusted dagger from the coffin and stashed it in a small side bagl. His attention was immediately back to her. His face was covered by a deep purple scarf that had been wound round his head and across his dark face, removing his features from view. What little of skin she could see appeared to be heavily scarred.

"I commend you for getting this far little girl." He rumbled, advancing on her down the steps, his deep voice echoing in the room. The rushing sound grow louder. "But now you must join our friend here."

Rory drew a breathe. Then there came the painful sound of stone scraping along stone. Their heads whipped around in unison to watch the four stone statues rise up the wall to reveal the ends of four shoots.

Crap.

Then the coffin itself began to rise till it was hovering in midair, bits of dust and stone crumbling off into the dark abyss beneath it.

Double crap.

The remains of the shattered wooden door behind them began to glow and a solid barrier of purple light appeared between its frames. It didn't take a genius to figure out it was probably trapping them inside.

Shit.

Rory's eyes flicked between the statues, coffin and door. The gap between the steps and nothing was narrow but big enough perhaps for a man. She was on her feet in a second, tackling the man to the ground, his head colliding hard with the floor, dark dreadlocks appearing behind his skewered headdress. She yanked the bag from his grasp stuffing it within her own satchel before he could take a breath. The man grabbed her ankle as she rose pulling her back to the ground. She was rolled over so his crushing weight was on top of her and his dark hands came to her throat.

The sound of rushing water was so loud now and it came splattering down the four shoots with enough force of a small waterfall, and the dusty ground was filled with freezing river water which then drained out beneath the coffin. Somewhere the torch was extinguished and Rory's world was once again filled with darkness. In the blackness of the room she felt the man pull at the satchel and she tugged it back, kicking her feet blindly towards him, making contact, but he would not let go. The two of them wrestled in the darkness as the ice cold water around steadily began to rise. Unbeknownst to the two of them the old ancient stones of the ceiling began to drip and crack with the weight of the water ways above it.

Rory continued to kick at the man while he tried to push her head beneath the inches of water. Only half breathing, and her head scraping painfully across the floor, her foot eventually collided with his soft spot and he collapsed on her in a momentary grasp of pain. The room seemed to mimic his groan as the ancient tomb tried to accommodate all the water, the gap beneath the coffin apparently not enough. Rory squeezed her way from underneath him, the whole of her person soaking wet and her hands still clutched at the satchel. A pressure on her arm pulled her back as the winded man refused to let go.

Then the weight of the water ways above them became too much and the ceiling caved in.

Mountains and mountains of river and rock collapsed on top of them in a waterfall of sheer icy force. She collapsed under the weight of the water, a lump of ceiling connecting with her arm and effectively rendering it useless. She would have screamed if she could breathe properly. The water and shock made it hard to do anything. The sudden excess of water caused a large current dragging Rory and the man with it. He must have been knocked unconscious by the ceiling as he was all but a dead weight although still holding firmly on to the satchel. She couldn't resist the torrents that was pulling them along, towards what she realised in panic was the gap underneath the coffin. Fighting the current was no good as she was stuck underwater and could not get up for air without abandoning the satchel with the man still held on to. If she let go he and the dagger would be gone forever.

He was the first to pulled by the water through the gap. She knew because her arm holding onto the bag was immediately yanked out of her socket and she was dragged through the water and over the edge, her other hand grabbing onto the ledge in the last second, her already damaged arm felt like it being ripped apart. They were hanging in the darkness, the satchel being the only thing between them holding them up, neither being able to breathe for the fall of water in their faces. Rory's hand let go, it was impossible for to grip on any longer. The two of the fell down through the air still they hit the water with a painful splat and were continued to be sucked down through the tunnel. There nothing but darkness, water, the satchel and the weight at the end of it. Rory couldn't breathe, she couldn't swim against current sucking them down. She couldn't think, only panic.

Instinct kicked in. Suddenly the water was lit up in bright blue light as beneath her feet a large blue circle appeared filling up the entire tunnel. She and the man went plummeting through it, satchel still in hand.

And then they were gone.

* * *

Music night at the Fairy Tail guild was always a popular one. With enough food and drink to feed an army, the exceptional and renown mages would sit down in their long drinking hall ready for a night of wild drunk entertainment. Such a night was in roaring mid swing when halfway through a rather raucous ballad a large blue circle appeared above one of the long tables, slowly silencing the hall as everyone began to notice. Before anyone could make more than a grunt of confusion the portal began to glow brilliantly and a cascade of water collapsed through it and down on to the table completely drenching those around it. Two bodies followed suit, falling out of nothing a landing heavily on the wood amidst the waterfall. Then the portal closed and the torrent of water stopped.

The was silence as the figures lay unmoving and the Fairy Tail wizards sat frozen in shock.

Then Rory North began sputtering and coughing and hacking up water, her back heaving like a cat with a hair ball until she managed to take a huge colossal breathe that seemed to shake every bone in her body and lift her head which felt like someone was trying to conduct a tap dancing class on her brain. In her brief moment of consciousness she managed discern three things:

One; Everything hurt.

Two; The strap of her satchel could still be felt beneath her frozen fingers.

And Three; this was entirely the wrong guild.

Her vision swam as figures began to move towards in blurry black shapes and she blacked out.

* * *

Hey all. Hope you enjoyed the first installment to the Okator Arc.

Just two disclaimers, the beginning of this piece was obviously taken from the beginning to the anime. Also our Disney reference if you didn't spot it is our "nursery rhyme" the court of miracles song, which is from the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Thanks for reading


	2. The Promotion

Chapter Two of the Okator Arc; The Promotion.

* * *

The moon hung in the night sky, huge and pearly. Lucy glanced up at it and fought back a yawn. She wasn't quite sure how late it was now, but the call of home and bed had to wait. Her two wards lay in the hospital-like beds in front of her, sleeping peacefully. There had been some discussion over chaining them down. The result was a constant guard instead, to watch them through the night. The fear being restraints might cause more damage to their injuries.

Beneath her the guild hall was finally quiet, it was almost as if the chaos that had ensued earlier that evening had never happened. But it had. There had been water, so much of it, coming out of nowhere. And then the thief and a man were left on the table, both bleeding, him more so. He lay in the bed to the left now, unmoving.

They'd removed the purple cloth that had wound his head and face so as to treat the wound on the right side of his temple. Lucy found herself captivated by his face. His skin was a deep brown, like chocolate or coffee and stretched tight against high bold cheek bones and strong jaw line. The sharp line of his brow oversaw the deep inset of his eyes and there was a dip between where the overhang of his forehead ended and the peak of his crooked nose began. It might have been a handsome face, Lucy thought, strong almost regal if not for the scars dominating his cheeks. They stretched from his thick dark lips right up to the end of cheekbones, stopping before gaunt circles of his eyes. Tiny white lines that crisscrossed his otherwise flawless skin and they reminded Lucy oddly of marks a sufferer of acne might get. Except these were clearly not the work of a skin condition. They patterned across his skin like white x's. Kisses carved deliberately into place. They made her shudder.

To the bed right of him, slept the thief, Rory North, not so peacefully. Her bronze face looked pallid in the moon light, and her equally bronze hair splayed out around her head like a rusty halo. She twitched and turned in her sleep, mumbling some dream and Lucy feared she was in danger of further damaging her slinged arm with her movement. The chair beside her bed sat vacant as Erza went to relieve herself. It had taken Lucy a good portion of an hour to convince her to leave the thief's side. _'They're both fast asleep Erza.'_ She'd said. _'Nothing's going to happen. And if something does, I can handle myself.'_

Erza had given her a wry smile _.' I suppose you can.'_

She fought back another yawn as she sat curled in a chair by the door, a sleeping Plue in her arms. At least someone got to sleep while she kept watch. Maybe when Erza returned she'd be able to nap. But only for a bit. It wouldn't be fair on Erza.

There was rustling from the sheets and Lucy lifted her head to meet the dark gaze of the man as he sat up in bed. All at once he looked surprised, confused and for a second uneasy. The dark amass of his dreadlocked hair tumbled and stuck out at every angle from his heavy bandaged head and fell around him like a lions mane. Lucy rose to feet, sliding up against the wall as he rasped out in a deep voice.

"Where am I? Who are you?"

"I'm Lucy." She smiled nervously at him, glancing at the door as if Erza would magically return _. I can handle this ._ "I'd be careful if I were you," She said quickly as the man moved out of bed, "You took a sharp blow to the head. You're still recovering."

He ignored her. "Where am I?" He repeated, now on his feet. Lucy hadn't realised how tall he was. She glanced again at the door, hands shifting instinctually towards her keys.

"If you'd please go back to bed sir. Don't worry you're in good hands. Fairy Tail will-" She never finished. At the sound of the guilds name the man's eyes had narrowed and his hands flashed out in front of him. A force knocked her backwards against the wall, head cracking as it collided with the wood and Lucy knew no more.

* * *

Sunlight streamed onto her. Rory could feel the warmth on her skin, could see the glow behind her waking eyes, turning her eyelids gold. Somewhere a bird was chirping. The sound reverberated through her head like a hammer on an anvil. Rory groaned. Her head hurt.

Eventually she opened her eyes to the world, and frowned. At first there was a light blue wall and cream ceiling. But then her gaze focused and became dominated by the sword tip and its red headed owner. Titania of the Fairy Tail guild sat, in her same old usual armour in a chair by Rory's bed, her sword drawn on the thief, heavy circles under her eyes.

Rory blinked then closed her eyes again, unmoving. She lay there for what seemed like an age, before opening them again. Titania was still there, watching her apparently motionless. Rory stuck her chin to her neck looking down at her aching, bandaged body, noting her slinged arm. As soon as she became aware of the limb, she became aware of the pain also. As if by seeing it had turned on a switch in her brain to start recognising pain. Now it was everything, not just her head, that hurt.

Her clothes were gone, instead she wore a white gown and she could feel all the way down to her ankles. The room she was in resembled that of a make shift hospital room, blue walls and neat white sheeted beds. Outside the window she spotted the bird whose song had painfully woken her. Titania silently watched her survey the room, sword and scowl unwavering.

"I'm surprised you didn't bind and gag me." Rory managed finally, her voice thick and groggy. "It would have completed the whole waking up in strange bed to a redhead and weapon moment."

"I wanted you bound, but they feared it would damage your arm." Titania replied in all seriousness, the jest missing her. "As for the gag, I'm regretting that already."

Rory's mouth curved wryly and she pulled herself up in a sitting position, the thin white sheet slipping to her hips as her free arm supported her upright, batting away the tip of Titania's sword. "Must we Titania?" She sighed at the mage. "Can't we have a five minute truce for once?"

Titania said nothing but after a moment, sheaved her sword and bowed her head once, red hair falling across one eye.

"Thanks," Rory said. She swung her legs over the side of the bed, her back facing the wizard. It was a show of ease on Rory's part, trying to at least appear in control. In the safety of her own mind however, thoughts were buzzing about in a throbbing reconciliation to remember as much as possible despite the pain it caused her.

Her white night gown was thin and crisp, billowing around her. Its short sleeves barely hid the thieves guild symbol branded a deep purple on her shoulder. The outline of a key double siding with a lock pick. It annoyed her how it was visible.

"So where am I?" She asked over her shoulder to the still sitting Titania. She shifted out of bed and padded over to a table by the wall which held a mirror and basin full of water.

"You're at Fairy Tail." Titania informed her in the mirror. "This is one of our private first aid rooms."

Rory nodded at her reflection, grey eyes locking with brown. She'd expected at much. "How long till the town guard come?"

"They're not coming."

Rory arched an eyebrow at her through the mirror. Titania did little to hide her displeasure at the information. Rory splashed her face, one-handedly drying it on a towel as Titania continued.

"The master does not wish to involve the law just yet. You are our ward and guest at the moment and master has some questions for you concerning last night. So here we are."

"Yes here we are." Rory echoed her, turning to face the mage she had such a history with. Well, not much of a history in a dramatic sense, but the two of them just had an unfortunate habit of running into each at the worst possible time.

Titania studied her back. "And this is your real face." She mused, almost conversationally and the notion made Rory laugh.

"Aye, getting a good look at it are you? Committing it to memory?"

Titania shook her head ever so slightly. "I'm wondering if I've seen it before. I'm finding it hard to remember."

"You have." Rory told her. "Though you didn't recognise it at the time." She shifted leaning back against the table. She wanted to go lie down again, but didn't want the proximity to Titania. "It's funny, it doesn't matter what disguise I wear, what face I take you _always_ know it's me. Every single time without fail you always recognise the illusion. And then the one time you met me in my own skin you barely even batted an eye lash. I watched you gaze right over me then carry on without a thought."

"When was this?" Titania asked with a frown.

"Oh some time ago." Rory shrugged offhandedly. "Some train station in the country side, chance meeting. It was funny though. The irony didn't escape me at the time."

Titania's frown persisted. Rory wondered sometimes if it was carved permanently into her face. For all her time running from the wizard, she had never seen the woman smile.

"It won't happen again." Titania promised. "I know your face now."

"Aye that you do." Rory muttered. There was a slight bitterness there. Her face had been the only part of her thieving identity she managed to fully keep from the law. It was the names, Duchess, Tombraider, that were important. They were the ones on the wanted poster's at least, a drawing of her real face yet to join them.

But now Titania had not only her true face, but her true name under her belt. It was a price Rory had known she might end up paying when she visited Fairy Tail, Makarov was not one for secret identities. Still, it was paid sourly.

"So you're a wizard." Titania said, breaking the silence again. "Portal magic. That's how you've managed to escape every time all these years." She laughed humourlessly. "It's seems so obvious now. The disappearing into nowhere, the residue magical energy. Breaking out of prisons without leaving your cell. It all makes sense." She banged her fist on the arm of her chair. "I can't believe I never saw it!"

"I can." Rory smirked at Titania, who was clutching her chair so intensely, self anger radiating from her. "But please continue to cut yourself up over the truth that has been staring you in the face for years."

"Why? Do you take pleasure from my mistakes?" Titania growled, rising to her full height.

"Darling I take bets on your mistakes." Rory retorted. "The fact alone you've taken this long to discover my portal magic makes me at least five thousand Jewels richer."

Titania advanced. "You'll need that to bail yourself out of jail. Five minutes is up Duchess." And she reached for her sword.

Rory had no idea what would have happened next if it were not for Fairy Tail's Salamander, Natsu Dragneel barging in to the room, his hands ablaze. A wizard with fire dragon slayer magic; Natsu Dragneel had made himself known in the mage community at an early age. Rory knew of him from the magazines and the tell tale signs of destruction he and his fellow guild members left in their wake. His fiery nature, pink hair and toned abs painted him a teen age icon and heartthrob, so Rory hadn't though much of him. Though as he stood in the doorway of the room, he looked so angry that Rory was more than intimidated. Evidently he was more serious than the media let on.

"Where is she?" He demanded. "Is she awake?" His gaze lighted on Rory and suddenly she was push up against the wall by her collar, a burning fist held threateningly above her nose.

" _Where is he_?" Salamander yelled into her perplexed face. "Where did he go?"

"Wha-" She managed. She was vaguely aware of something happening behind his but his contorted face was taking up too much of her attention.

"You're friend! He hurt Lucy now I'm going to hurt him. Where is he?" Salamander repeated, shifting her slightly higher up the wall. Part of Rory felt vaguely impressed that he could lift her with one arm.

"Who?" She squeaked.

"The guy who came through the portal with you! The turban one. He left last night but not before he knocked Lucy unconscious. After we gave him shelter and tended his wounds he hurt one of us. Nobody does that to a member of Fairy Tail! _Where did he go_?"

She started at him with unfathomable confusion. Then his words sunk in.

Oh crap.

There was movement by the door and another figure appeared, leaning in close to Salamander. "Honestly Natsu I'm fine." Sighed a tired looking blond girl who Rory recognised from the guild hall. She lay a hand Natsu's shoulder smiling weakly at him, the Fairy Tail symbol stamped pink on her hand. Rory noticed an ice pack was being held to the back of her head. "Put her down. You're going to damage her arm further."

Rory's mind was whirling. So the guy had come through with her? Of course, he must of! And they'd treated him. The both of them. Rory remembered how he'd been knocked down by a piece of ceiling. But if he'd left in the night did that mean...

"The dagger!" Rory gasped, her hands clutching on to the muscled forearm that was pinning her against the wall."Okator's dagger! When he left did he take the bag with him! The dagger, did he get the dagger?"

Salamander frowned, pink hair falling across his wrinkled brow, but his fist extinguished itself."How should I know? You're the one working with him!" He pointed out, voice still raised.

"I don't work with him!" Rory cried urgently. "He was in the tomb too. Got there before me and set off the wards! He's after the dagger too."

"Oh." Salamander said, putting her down and taking a step back. He eyed her. "So you don't know where he went?"

"If he took the dagger I will soon." Rory promised and she turned to Titania, who was still holding her sword. "I want my stuff back. My clothes, my bag, my hat."

Titania watched her, her gaze as intense as always. Eventually she said, "The Master confiscated all of your things. I doubt that man was able to retrieve the dagger if it was in master's possession. We would know if someone stole from us. Anyway we can't let you leave yet, Wendy has not finished healing you." And she gave a pointed look at Rory's slinged arm.

Rory arched an eyebrow. "Can I at least have my clothes back?" She asked icily. "Or must I carry on looking like a sacrificial virgin?" She folded her free arm over her chest, the ankle length white night gown crinkling slightly.

Titania made a noise that sounded she'd almost laughed but stopped herself. "Natsu go get Duchess's clothes off Mirajane would you?" Titania instructed her gaze never leaving Rory's. "They should be dry by now. And Lucy go sit down, Wendy said you shouldn't be moving about."

Rory held her eye steadfastly. Neither of them blinked. Salamander and the girl Lucy glanced at each other then back at the two girls. Sensing tension in the room they silently did as they were told. Or rather the Lucy girl dragged Salamander from the room before he could start complaining. The door closed and they could hear Salamander's loud voice moving down the hall way.

Rory forced a smirk, leaning back against the wall Salamander had just shoved her against. "He's quite the protective one isn't he." She said jerking her head towards the door.

"Yes, and you'd do well to remember that." Erza warned, Rory's attempt at humour doing nothing to lighten the tension.

Rory made a noncommittal noise at the back of her throat. She was the first to look away.

* * *

The guild hall was a quiet murmur of voices from people who had a lot to say but were not in the mood to say it. Apprehensive would be a good descriptive word. Tense. Nobody was happy with the situation, but little could be done.

The thief girl sat at the bar, hunched over the bowl of soup. On instinct people kept their distance. Next to her, sat Erza carefully watching her every move. It was clear she was on edge in the thief's presence and the guild hall unknowingly followed her lead, tensing when she tensed, shifting when she shifted. Subconsciously the thief girl pulled at the floppy bobble hat that dominated her dark blonde head, as if aware of the eyes plastered to her neck and hushed whispers about her. Ever so slightly she cocked her head to the head, tucking hair and hat behind her ear. Listening.

"...lead on the man. Some people ... heading east into the woods...this morning..."

"...thieves guild got quite some nerve ...rely on our hospitality..."

"...Natsu reckons the two aren't associated..."

"...doing fine Wendy says...just a bump..."

"...and to think...such a shy timid thing when we met her..."

"...be an idiot Wakaba...act to lull us into a false sense of security..."

"...doing research...Tombraider..."

"You done eavesdropping?" Rory jumped, her spoon clattering as Erza interrupted her concentration. She spared the redhead a glare then slurped up the rest of her breakfast.

"When can I go?" She asked into her bowl.

"When the master says you can." Erza replied bluntly.

Rory narrowed her eyes. "So you're gonna keep me here like a prisoner?"

Erza shifted, her eyes searching the room. "Just be glad you're not chained up."

Rory snorted but kept quiet, revelling in her own quiet anger. How could she have opened up her portal here of all places? Why did she? Rory couldn't remember much after falling into the tunnel under coffin. She assumed the lack of air caused her to lose consciousness. So that must have been what drowning felt like. Considering everything the pain wasn't as bad as Rory thought it would be. If anything it made the air taste a lot sweeter. However now she was even further in Fairy Tail's debt.

Their two guilds were enemies on principle, yet Fairy Tail had taken her in. They'd healed, washed and dried clothes, fed her for free. Even so, Rory wished her subconscious portal had taken her to a back alley somewhere. The last thing she needed was owing Titania for hospitality of all things.

 _Raven's going to laugh her head off when she finds out what happened_ , Rory thought ruefully. She'll never live this down. Going to a legal guild for aid, and Fairy Tail no less. Why couldn't she have landed at Mermaid Heel? She wouldn't have minded waking up to them. _It could've been worse_ , Rory reassured herself, she could have ended up at Blue Pegasus. The thought alone made her shudder.

"Good morning Rosie, awake I see. And Wendy says your arm will make a full recovery." Rory looked up from her bowl to see Makarov sitting crossed legged on the bar top a little way down from her. The old man was so tiny he fitted easily on the wooden surface. He was wearing the same bright orange jester's hat from before.

"Thanks to you." Rory inclined her head. "You could have kicked me out into the street. You should have. It's what others would have done."

His heavy white mustache bristled slightly as he watched her. "Well believe it or not, I'm glad to see you're alright Rosie."

Rory straightened up, shifting on her bar stool. "Titania says you have questions for me."

In response the old man reached behind him, and pulled out two bags; her own and the man's which he'd stored the dagger in. "Here are your things. I took the liberty of retrieving Artau's key from you. Since you shall no longer need it, I will have it returned to ex-master Henner. You needn't worry" He added as Rory grabbed one of the bags and tore it open, "Okator's dagger is safe. Your little friend last night came looking for it, but I assured him it was in good hands."

Rory's head snapped up. Lying in the bag before her was the dagger, safe and sound. "You spoke to him? Did you find out who he was? Who he works for?"

"I did not." Markarov said, almost disappointed. There was a nasty glint in his eye when he said "But he hurt one of my children. And for that he will pay, regardless of who he affiliates with."

"Whoever he is, he's dangerous." Rory told him. "He got into the tomb without the key. And he set off the wards placed round the sarcophagus without a second thought. Idiocy and power don't go well together. The lunatic nearly got the both of us killed with his hastiness."

"Sounds like he owes you his life. A dangerous position to be in." The remark almost made her smile.

Rory shook her head. "I dunno old man, I'd say he has more to fear from your Salamander than me. The guy looked pretty pissed." And in the words of her grandmother _only idiots piss off dragons_. There was a hint of truth behind the jest at least.

As if he'd read her thoughts, Makarov then asked "Did your grandmother teach you your portal magic?"

"Huh?" Rory jumped. "Oh, no. No I learned that off a wall. Go figure. But my grandmother did train me as a wizard when it was discovered I could use magic. But that was only basic mental stuff, like concentration and how to hide your magical aura." She glanced at Titania. "It's why you weren't ever able to sense my portal magic."

Titania nodded, a look of understanding on her face. "You are able to mask your magical energy to appear like an ordinary citizen. I'm almost impressed."

"And that was _almost_ a compliment." She flashed the mage a grin."Careful Titania, one night together and you're already going soft on me. You'll give me the wrong idea."

Titania's face became pinched, angry and stunned at the same time. A few of her guild mates close enough to overhear shot her odd looks. "We did not spend the night together I was your guard!" She huffed indignantly. "Or do you not remember waking up to my sword?"

"Your sword?" Rory repeated. "Just what you implying Queenie? How should I interpret _that_ one?"

Rory had discovered a year or so ago that Titania did not respond well to flirting. Especially from a girl. Rory liked to lay it on thick in her presence, in truth it was the only time she really got close to having one over on the mage. Titania always answered with formal indifference, but sometimes Rory managed to gauge a reaction. It had become part of their thing really.

Erza narrowed her eyes at her. " _Literally._ " And said sword materialised into place at her side.

"Oh no you don't." Rory jumped backwards from the bar, out of reach. She pulled Okator's dagger from Turban man's (for lack of a better name) bag and slid it into her boot then discarded the empty material. With her own bag now slung over her shoulder she reached out her arm, and felt her magic pull and pulse through her finger tips. A large blue circle appeared next to, emitting a bright light.

"I gotta say it's nice to finally be able to use my magic in front of you Titania. Feels like I'm taking a weight off my chest you know?" She cocked her head towards Makarov, who sat unmoved on the bar top. "The Thieves Guild appreciates your help and cooperation during our recovery mission. You have my gratitude."

"HELP?" Erza yelled. "We didn't help or cooperate with you! _You fell out of nowhere in the middle of guild hall unconscious!"_

"Tell that sky dragon chick thanks for the healing." Rory continued, ignoring Titania. "My arm feels good as new already."

Makarov inclined his head. "Take care Rosie." Then he did something that surprised Rory entirely. He smiled and waved. It seemed the old man wasn't always as serious as he appeared. She wondered what kind of connection he had with her grandmother, to make him to kind to her.

She turned and began to walk into her portal. The guild members in the hall were watching her go, it was kind of disconcerting. But no one stopped her, evidently they couldn't wait to be rid of her. Her act could drop in a minute. "See you around Titania." She waved over her shoulder.

"This changes nothing Duchess." Titania called back, and Rory just knew she was gripping at her sword handle, flexing her fingers along the hilt. The way she usually did when pissed.

"I should hope not." Rory admonished, her foot disappearing into the blue of the portal. "Things just got a whole lot more interesting between us. I look forward to the next chase." And with that she disappeared through the portal and out onto a sunny hill side.

* * *

Rory's portal closed behind her and she fell backwards against the tree she knew was there with a groan. Sinking slowly to the ground, her beanie was pushed off her head as it rubbed along the tree bark, and she held it in her hands, the wool soft under her skin. She wasn't sure how long she sat there, turning the hat over in her hands, lost in thought.

She was losing her touch. Fairy Tail? Why? Of all places to take herself. _Why?_ She knew that in times of stress her portals could manifest from her subconscious, taking her wherever it could. Either somewhere safe, or to the closest area of mass magical energy. But Okator's tomb was on the complete opposite side of the kingdom to Fairy Tail, there was no logical reason for her magic to be attracted there. And now she was even further in their debt. And Titania knew she was a mage. Rory punched the ground, cursing out loud as she did so. She wasn't sure which was more frustrating; the fact she couldn't understand why her portal had taken her to Fairy Tail or the fact it simply was _Fairy Tail._ She swore again.

"Careful now Dutch. Yer on holy ground here. Keep the cussin' to a minimum."

"Raven." Rory murmured, recognising the Northern accent in an instant. She looked up to see her partner in crime hiking up the hill to join her. "I don't think graveyards really count."

Behind her and below stretched the flowered graveyard of a small bucolic town in the north, Amaryllis. A little way beyond sat the little fat building of the Zentopian church. The graveyard was peaceful and quiet. And the small red maple tree on the hill gave the perfect shade and coverage for when one just wanted to sit and contemplate. It was a quaint, idyllic view from the small hilltop. The type you'd see stylistically painted onto a postcard. In fact Rory was pretty sure the small post office in the village actually did sell post cards with a picture of it's church from this very spot on the hill.

"They wouldna build a church here if it weren't holy ground." Raven pointed out.

Raven, or formally, Raven Nightingale was a tall, painfully thin woman, rather like a stick with long gangly limbs. She rather looked like someone had grabbed hold of her hands and feet and stretched her. Her spine had a constant curve to it, a result of by an insecurity over her height, leading her to always stoop slightly. Raven had a narrow, gaunt face and was deathly white with a prominent hooked nose rather like a beak and light blue eyes that she lined heavily with black up to her eyebrows, giving the impression that her eyes were constantly in shadow. Her rusty orange hair hung in a fine curtain around her face, dead straight down to her hunched shoulders.

Her usual getup often involved something black, red and tight, today it was a corset top, skinny jeans and knee high combat boots. Somewhere along the left side of her abdomen was the Thieves Guild symbol, branded burgundy where her skinny hip met painfully small stomach. On her hips hung her magical utility belt (black true fashion) and slung over her shoulder was a black metal bow. Raven wasn't one for a quiver of arrows. She often complained that it hurt her back and was impractical. Instead she kept her arrows in a magically expanded compartment at her hip. Also somewhere in one of those compartments were several orb shaped lacrimas that held her illusionment magic. Crack one of those things over your head like an egg and you briefly change appearance. They were the perfect disguises for a pair of thieves.

Rory assumed the two of them were close in age, but they never really talked about personally stuff like birthdays so she couldn't be sure. Sometimes Rory vaguely wondered who Raven really was. Who she was before she became Raven Nightingale that is. Before she joined the guild that shrouded each of its member's in secrecy. It was funny. She and Raven trusted each other with their lives, their safety, their sanity but not their real names. Not their true identities. It was the cost of the guild. Rory supposed she didn't need to know a person's history to know whether she trusted them in the here and now. But still she couldn't help but wonder about her closest ally.

"What are you doing north?" Rory asked as Raven joined her in the shade of the red maple's leaves.

"Recon on local mercenary guild. Ye got the dagger?"

Rory nodded, pulling at some grass.

"Then why are ye mopin' on a hillside?"

"How did you know I would be moping on a hillside?" Rory shot back testily. "How did you know I'd be here?"

Raven shrugged. "Cause yer predictable. Ye play portal favourites. Kohl told me shit went down in the tomb and this spot tends to be one of ye random go to's for contemplatin' crap like that. I was in the area anyway so figured I'd check it out before contactin' ye."

Rory frowned at the sky, both pissed and pleased that she was so easily tracked. Pissed because being predictable was hardly a good thing, but admittedly, secretly, happy that someone had taken notice of her habits. That she was not so alone for it to be only herself that knew her mind. That someone else was there, that someone could always find her.

 _Damn_. She was getting sloppy. Five minutes with the Fairies and she was already getting emotional over one sentence from Raven. Of course Raven knew her habits they were partners. Nothing more.

And of course Raven was nothing but business. She noticed Rory's frustration and with a slight smirk, asked "So, who are they and why are they after the dagger?"

So Raven knew someone else was in the tomb. How much had Kohl managed to find out through the night? Rory supposed it didn't really matter, or rather Duchess did. Because that's who she was. Makarov and Fairy Tail had filled her mind with Rory North, but right now she needed to be Duchess.

"No idea and no idea." She said, rising to her feet. "But we will know soon." And she put her beanie back onto the back of her head, sweeping her messy blond fringe out of her eyes.

"Come on Raven, we have shit to do."

* * *

Back in Magnolia.

As one the guild hall let out the collective breath they'd been holding in. The blue portal disappeared into nothing, leaving behind no trace but a feint hint of magical residue. Makarov's smile slid from his face and he looked tired and well, old.

"She's such a vibrant young spirit." Mirajane commented cheerfully from behind the bar. "She's not at all how I imagined a member of the thieves guild to be."

"Then you don't know her." Titania said darkly, falling back against her stool. All those night hours of staying awake were finally catching up with her. "Duchess is smarter than she looks. She always has the upper hand. Not once have I been able to defeat her."

A hushed silence fell over the hall at this revelation.

"Seriously?" Gray sounded impressed and scared as he joined Erza at the bar. "I mean she doesn't look like much of a fighter." His thought process was clear however and thudded threw every mind in the guild; if Rory North was able to defeat Erza, every time, then she must be an extremely powerful wizard. To know somebody stronger than Erza, it was a terrifying thought. And the awkward blond girl in the floppy hat just didn't seem to match the notion.

"Fighter?" Erza laughed bitterly. "Duchess is not a fighter. I have rarely ever battled with her and when I do it's not much of a fight. Usually she just runs away."

Now Gray (and the eavesdropping guild hall) became confused. Elfman's deep voice muttered something about cowardice and unmanliness.

"Wait if you don't fight her then how is she able to defeat you?" Cana asked. She too was casually leaning against the bar, next to Gray. A mug of a warm liquid was already in her hand despite the early morning. The two of them looked like they belonged in a lingerie magazine, as Gray stood in nothing but his black boxers and Cana had foregone a shirt (as usual) for a black bikini top.

Erza sighed, her red hair sweeping over bad eye. "Because she _always_ wins."

Makarov remained silent, looking solemn and thoughtful as Mirajane asked, with her voice of sugar. "What do you mean Erza?"

Erza could feel them all watching her, their curiosity burning holes through her. Erza had never mentioned the thief much around the guild, and now an explanation was due. "She wins because she always succeeds. Nothing I do would keep her in prison. Nothing I did would stop her from achieving her goal, I would only ever to delay her. It never comes to a physical fight between us because she _never lets it_. She'd just surrender, wait a while in captivity then continue when I'm gone. That's why she always defeats me; she always manages to get the last laugh. "

"Maybe she never fights you because she knows you'll defeat her." Gray hedged, reassuring himself more than Erza. If the thief never fought then perhaps she wasn't that great a foe, she just knew the value of patience. That must be it. Erza was still the better wizard, it was just Rosemary North never bothered to fight. Now it was clear she was a portal mage it was obvious why she was never bothered by prison; she could simply portal out.

Erza smiled gratefully at his comment, yet it didn't quite meet her eyes.

"It is not within the thieves guild's nature to fight." Makarov intone, suddenly. "They not known for their physical strength and power. Most of them aren't even mages. And the ones that are stick to the shadows, that is where they are most powerful." Makarov looked gravely at the guild. "The thieves guild deals in secrets and favours. _That_ is where it's power and influence lies. But my children, do not let yourselves get lulled into a false sense of security. The people in that guild are more than capable."

* * *

A few weeks later.

In a small clearing the middle of Aspen Forest, south west of the city Crocus met the four thieves. Out of sight from the local hiking paths, secluded under the shelter of the trees, the three women and man were in total privacy.

Rory stood opposite Kohl, one hand deep in his pocket, the other holding a cigarette. It was a rare sight to see the man away from his bar. Rory was so used to experiencing Kohl from torso up, amid a backdrop of musty old bottles and smoke, it was strange to suddenly seem him whole, and in clean air (despite the fact he brought the smoke with him with his cigarette.) He looked like fish out of water among the white barked trees and streaming sun. A very impatient fish. It was clear he was already regretting their little field trip. Or rather he was regretting the additional people to their outing as watching them from the tree line were Raven and Doc, happily picking away at his resolve.

Doc was, if Rory had to guess, a woman somewhere within her late twenties or early thirties, though to her face Rory would say she was not a day over twenty. With dark green hair hidden by her navy religious headscarf, and quizzical monolided eyes behind half moon spectacles, Doc was easily the most attractive out the three woman. Something she liked to remind them frequently. She was usually seen in some elaborately tight cocktail dress and a white doctor's coat, complete with stethoscope and six inch heels. Rory was secretly amazed at how she'd gotten this far into the forest in such footwear. But then again she'd seen the woman navigate the Denga Citadel rooftops like the frozen, iced death drop roof tiles were nothing more than a walk in the park.

Sitting midway between Kohl and Rory, chained to a stick hammered into the ground was a puppy. Rory couldn't be sure of the breed, but it was short haired and panting happily, completely unaware of its impending fate.

"Do I have to?" Rory asked again, eyeing the dog gingerly. "There must be something else I can practice on."

Kohl raised an unimpressed eyebrow and it disappeared into his shaggy black mane. This was not the first time Rory had complained about the canine guinea pig. She shifted from foot to foot, trainers rubbing together, an uneasy feeling in her stomach.

"Dogs are the easiest to start with, Duchess. Their will is the most accessible to bind." Doc informed her, an ancient grimoire set across her and Raven's knees. The book was so huge it covered the whole of their legs like a blanket, with only pair of black combat boots and stiletto heels sticking out from under it.

Raven snorted. "Yeah but ye don't need magic to bind a dug's will. They're pushovers. Give it a biscuit and it will love ye for life. Train it to sit and it will sit. Don't need to bind it's will for that."

"Exactly." Doc said sardonically. "That's why they're the easiest to start with. Idiot. And I think you'll find Willbind goes far beyond a simple sit or stay."

"Whatever moss head." Raven grumbled. "I'm the one translatin' here." She gestured to the tome.

"Beaky." Doc hissed back, just loud enough to hear.

Kohl's stoic face mimicked that of an almost pained expression as their squabbling continued. Full on emotions were never _quite_ his thing; it was always half a smile, one eyebrow, semi laughter, anger reflecting only in the eyes and nowhere else. His face was the kind that had only two settings: deadpan and wry.

"You can practice will bind on the dog so I know you've got the basics." Kohl told Rory bluntly, ignoring the bickering of their two comrades. "If you get it wrong, then at least it's only a dog you're killing and not a person."

"But I don't wanna kill a dog. " Rory said, her voice going up a couple octaves. "I'd seriously rather kill a person than a puppy. I'd rather _bind_ a person than this puppy."

Every time she looked at the grinning mutt she was reminded of the huge shaggy back hound her family kept on the farm. Rory had grown up with that dog, fallen asleep using it's fur as a pillow. It was family, there was no ' _only'_ about it. The thought of unintentionally hurting the creature in front of her made her feel physically sick. It was a baby.

Kohl gave a withering look. "You've had weeks to study bind magic now. You won't kill the dog. Now stop being a coward Chess and do it."

Rory gave him the finger then turned her concentration back onto the dog. It barked at her then rolled onto its stomach, the chain connecting it from its collar to the pole straining at the movement. Raven and Doc fell quiet, watching as Rory slowly breathed in and breathed out, pushing away her thoughts and doubts, clearing her mind, relaxing her muscles, feeling the magical energy around her, flexing out her aura, the magic building inside of her...

"You know you never did tell me why I have to learn this." Rory said suddenly, breaking the magic tension. Kohl cast his eyes to the heavens with a groan, mouth set in frustration. For a moment Rory thought he would ignore the question and leave her in the dark. He was in the right to. But then for the first time in what seemed like forever, Kohl gave in.

"Our agent watching Tartaros has gone silent."

There was a pause as his words sunk in. They had the desired effect. Rory's mind became a whizzing blur as she processed the revelation.

From the side, Raven's northern voice piped up. "S-Silent as in nothin' to report or.. silent as in...dead?" You could tell she was hoping for the first, whilst already knowing it was the second. It was the strange little form of innocence she possessed; hoping against hope. A quality Rory wanted Raven to never lose. But perhaps that too was hoping against hope.

"Well this is Tartaros we're talking about." Doc said quietly, frowning slightly. "So dead." At another time, Doc might have mocked the stutter in Raven's voice, or the stupidity of the question. At another time.

"With him gone, our guild is down one bind mage." Kohl continued. "Hence your promotion, Chess. Congratulations."

"This is a promotion?" Rory hissed, feeling cold. "You're teaching me bind magic so I can what? _Shadow_ Tartaros?" She fought back the action to gulp. The dark guilds name had put her on edge.

Kohl's mouth stretched wryly. "Not quite. Bind magic has always been the way our guild operates. With only a small amount of us actually practicing magic, it's important we keep the number of bind mages up."

"So why aren't Doc and Raven also learning?" Rory asked defensively, glancing over at the two women.

"Cause I already know bind magic." Doc said.

"Well, to an extent." Kohl corrected her. "Doc can manipulate the physical aspects of bind just fine, Bloodbind and Bodybind as such. However her capabilities fall short when it comes to binding the will, which is what the guild requires."

"Hence why I'm here with you losers and not out doing actual guild work." Doc muttered bitterly.

"And me?" Raven asked. "How come I weren't offered to learn bind?"

Kohl gave her his 'parent' look again and said bluntly "Bind magic is ancient and powerful and requires immense magical energy and concentration. Something _you_ have neither of. "

Raven bristled, looking almost accusingly at Rory. "But Duchess does?"

Doc snorted lightly, leaning back against their tree. "Face it Raven, some people are just born power houses. I mean, Duchess uses portal magic for God's sake. That stuff is on a whole other level to illusionment."

At another time Rory might have been pleased at the compliment; it wasn't everyday people recognised or appreciated the skill required to perform portal. However she was too busy watching Kohl, her grey eyes still searching him. "There's something else." She said. "Something more that you're not telling us. Why is it so important that I learn bind magic _now?"_

Kohl smiled dryly. "Chess, you see right through me." He shook his head. "You're aware of the political chaos ensuing in the underworld since Oraciόn Seis's fall. How much do you know about their defeat?"

"Everything they published in the arrest reports." Rory replied. "Nothing that suggests our guild's involvement or what actually happened." To be honest she hadn't been all that interested in the information. Her line of work lead her tombs and some of the lesser dark guilds. She never really came across any of the big guns. Or wanted to.

Oraciόn Seis had been one of the three major dark guilds that ruled the Fiore underworld along with the Tartaros Guild and Grimoire Heart. Between the three of them they controlled every dark guild asides Raven Tail. That is until an alliance of some of the top legal guilds took Oraciόn Seis out of the picture. Since then the underworld has been thrown into slight chaos, with lesser guilds trying to gain advantage of Oraciόn Seis's fall and grappling for the power it left behind.

The Thieves Guild watched them all from the shadows and then reported back. As an independent guild they were not controlled by the Balam alliance or the magic council, but the associations with both sides were strong. The higherups of both worlds knew the thieves guild spied on them, but they also knew it was the only place you could go to for information. It was an uneasy coexistence. One Rory never fully bothered in. Tombs were her specialty. Not coordinating spies.

"Our agents shadowing the Oraciόn Seis reported that the guild was seeking an ancient power." Kohl said, addressing the three of them. "That power we found out was the lost magic Nirvana. If the guild succeeded they would have thrown the world into chaos. We couldn't allow that to happen. So we intervened and orchestrated the alliance of the legal guilds to take out the Dark Guild. Our plan succeeded and the Oraciόn Seis was stopped."

"And all of it was made possible by bind magic." Doc said, nodding along. "Binding the free will of a person to the Thieves Guild and using them as a spy, in the underworld, in the legal guilds, magic council. We watch and keep people in line. When people start trying to cross those lines, we drag them back, or let them return of their own _free_ will, so to speak."

A sudden thought occurred to Rory and her face turned sour. "It's magical slave trade." She spat.

"Perhaps. But without it we'd all be dead." Kohl looked at her sharply. "The thieves guild does not ask you to kill, Duchess. But you will be required to bind a person's will. The unrest in the underworld will soon settle, we must act now and gain power in the chaos while we can. With so many lesser guilds running rampant and vying for power now would be the time to bind them and use them as spies for when they are eventually dominated by the other Balam Alliance guilds. We need as many eyes and ears out there as possible."

"Why?" Rory shot forcefully. "What else is happening?"

Kohl looked at them grimly, pausing dramatically. A slight breeze shook through the trees as for the second time Kohl decided to share another vital piece of information.

"Grimoire Heart is on the move."

...

"Well that don't mean much. Their guild is a bloody warship, they're _always_ on the move." Raven grunted.

Kohl's eyelids fluttered closed and a hand came up to his temple. He looked remarkably like a man at his wits end. It was funny how often Raven could bring him to such a stage. In the end he chose to ignore her. "We fear they are also heading down a dark path for power like the Oraciόn Seis did. One that will not end well for the world if they succeed. However many of our spies within their guild were will bound by our newly dead thief, meaning the bind has been broken and we've lost our few resources into Grimoire Heart.

"I'm not teaching you bind magic for you to shadow the guild, Chess." Kohl said quickly at the panicked look on her face. "But like I said, we need to keep numbers up, and times are going to only get more difficult. With the major players of the underworld acting up we need as many capable bind mages as possible. And anyway, you were down to learn bind sooner or later. The fact it's sooner doesn't make much difference in the end. So you happy now Chess? Got the information you desired?" He raised a sardonic eyebrow at her, always managing to end on a patronising note.

Rory sneered back in return, her mind turning over the news in her brain. Tartaros quiet- well nothing really new there, the loss of an agent didn't surprise Rory much. They didn't seem like a guild easily spied on. And Grimoire Heart up to no good, again not much of a surprise. It was always something world ending with those tops guild. And now it appeared the 'promotion' to bind wizard made those things her problem. Great. She hadn't even performed the spell yet and Rory already preferred it when Kohl didn't tell them anything and just gave her tomb jobs.

"So basically," Raven's loud voice interrupted her thoughts, "it looks like things are on the verge of goin' tits up again and ye want Duchess as an extra bind wizard _just in case_ Grimiore Heart start crossin' lines and she needs to figuratively drag them back?" She summarised dryly.

Kohl's mouth curled at her tone but he nodded. "Basically, yes."

Raven threw him an unfathomable look. "See why dinna ye just bloody say that in the first place instead of givin' some stupid mostly irrelevant long winded explanation?" She cried judgingly.

A vein twitched on Kohl's forehead. "Stupid irrelevant long winded explanation?" He repeated testily." _All_ the information was relevant and it wasn't long at all."

"The dug's gone the fuck to sleep Kohl!"

Rory looked down at the puppy and laughed when she saw Raven was right. The small mutt was curled up round the pole, snoring lightly. She and Doc both let out an uncharacteristic ' _aw_ ' at the little thing, then jumped back at the sound of the other's voice. They cleared their throats and shifted, refusing to meet each other's eye.

Kohl sighed. "Just bind the god damn thing Chess and lets be done here before I change my mind and make Raven the guinea pig instead."

Suddenly Rory felt sick again. The focus shifted back to her and the dog. And Kohl had given more than enough information, there was nothing to ask now. Nothing to stall with.

 _Just do it_. She told herself. Just do it and get it done with. You won't hurt it. Concentrate.

And she did, feeling the pull of the new spell around her. She could tell why Raven was too weak to practice such magic. Bind was Big. Bind was Consuming. Rory felt worse than she did when she opened her portal for the first time, the magical pull of bind was much more intoxicating than portal. Portal knew her, portal was friendly. It was a magic that was enthused through her, wound to her soul. But bind was New. A spell with dark origins. It felt dirty.

The dog, seeming to sense that something was finally happening, woke up, yawning adorably and opening its big brown eyes to the world intent to hurt it. As soon as Rory's eyes met the dog's, her resolve broke and the spell fell away from her. She released it bit by bit, the energy leaving her like a dandelion in the wind.

"I can't." She said, unable to meet Kohl's eyes. "I can't hurt it. It's just a puppy."

This time it was to Rory that Kohl's impatient cursing was directed. With a sudden angry force that Rory had never seen before, Kohl strode forward, snatching up the dog by it's collar and pulling a knife from his boot. Grumbling under his breath about weak women, Rory thought for a second Kohl was going to break the dog's chain and let it go. She thought wrong. His knife slashed down, ripping open the puppy's grey stomach. The yelp that came from Rory's mouth was just was inhuman as the hair raising yowl the dog made. Raven swore loudly, her accent becoming too thick with slang to be understood and Doc let out a small scream. Their reaction's seemed to fuel Kohl's contempt.

" _Women!_ " He snarled. His black eyes landed on Rory, who stood hands to her mouth, frozen in shock. "Bloodbind it then!"

The command shot through her like lightning and she jumped to answer it, barely even thinking. The spell left her before she could comprehend.

" _Bloodbind_!"

And she seized control of the atoms swelling round the puppy's gushing wound. Red dripping blood. She froze it in place, pausing it's rush out of the seeping whole. The dog continued to whimper in pain, but now it no longer lost any blood. Rory felt a bead of sweat on her forehead, the only sign of the spells affect on her. Bloodbind was supposed to be a basic form of bind, easier to cast and Rory easily recognised the difference between Bloodbind and Willbind. What the ancient tomb on Raven's and Doc's legs failed to mention, or perhaps it did and they just skipped that part, was that Bloodbind required constant attention and magical energy. Once Willbind was cast that was it, over. But Bloodbind; Rory had to hold it, keep it in place. It was not a permanent spell. She could appreciate how draining the spell was, and felt a sudden new found respect for Doc, a woman who had once notoriously held Bloodbind for eight hours straight to stop a comrade from bleeding to death. Rory could scarcely believe such an act to be capable now.

"Bind it's will now Chess." Kohl ordered, hard and indifferent. "Order it to be quiet."

The puppy was making pitiful sounds of pain that were pulling on her heart strings. Unknowingly Rory was crying. She wanted the dog to stop. She wanted to make it forget the pain.

She bound its will.

The chant flowed off her tongue like running water, memorised to the last syllable. A language old, and evil. One she knew dominated the dark curses of old. Then the final lines in her mother tongue, ones she barely even whispered.

"I bind you to my will, _I bind you_."

She knew it worked, she could feel the dog give in so easily. It's will dominated in a blink. She could see what they meant by 'dog's were easy'. Non sentient creatures were a breeze waiting to be claimed and caged. The gratified power flooded through her, an exuberant rush of authority. It's will was hers. She could _feel_ the chains that bound it to her. Then perception and reality caught up with her and was brought down from her magical high. _Chains._ The dog was bound to her will against it's own, subjected to her commands. Success turned to bitterness in a second.

She willed the dog to be quiet. Then sent it to sleep, shutting off it's mind to the pain.

Kohl nodded, satisfied and stood back. "Heal it." He barked at Doc. She didn't need telling twice. Doc scrambled towards the helpless creature, med bag at hand.

"You are fifty shades of fucked up my friend." Doc muttered to Kohl, adjusting her headscarf and pulling a healing lacrima from the kit. She ran the orb over the wound, and it began to knit itself together slowly but surely resealing the gash and leaving a thin bloody scar in it's trace. Doc didn't look back at Kohl again. None of the women seemed to be able to stand him, still consumed in the horror of his small crime.

When Doc sat back, wound healed Kohl said quietly "You can release Bloodbind now Chess." There was almost a sense of shame in his voice, in his stance. Shoulders hunched and head down, he did not meet Rory's gaze when she eventually brought herself to look at him.

"So that was bind." She said because the silence was killing the clearing. "Blood and Will."

Thankfully Doc caught on and helped fill the quiet tension with the same stiff indifference. "Blood and body bind will both drain you magically because they need to be held." She said, one hand concentrating on cleaning up the dogs bloody stomach, the other holding a pulsating blue lacrima that Rory knew relieved pain. She spoke meticulously, like reciting from an old school book. "Stamina is required as well as constant concentration. Mass is the key with physical bind. The larger the mass you are binding the more magical energy is required."

Raven cleared her throat. "Spiritual bind magic like Will should never have a mental affect on the caster." Her voice was equally flat to Doc's and Rory knew she too was trying to fill the dumb silence. "All binds will have a physical effect and drain on the caster should they be performed enough, like most spells."

"It is impossible to self spiritual bind, you can only bind others." Doc added. "One can bind their blood and pause a wound, but you cannot bind your own will."

"The only spell where the caster involves their own fate is-"

"Soulbind." Rory finished, her eyes meeting Raven's. "I already know about Soulbind." Her grandmother had mentioned it. It was the closest thing to replicating the Fioran ideal of a soul mate through magic. When the soul was bound to another person that it. Whereas Willbind bound a person's free will to your mind, Soulbind bound the soul to soul. It was a two way spell. Not like Will where the caster's own free will remained unaffected. Soulbind had consequences for both caster and subject.

"For as long as you serve our guild you will never be required to perform Soulbind." Kohl spoke up, his voice grave. "I'd be surprised if any mage in our guild had the ability to even perform it."

Rory nodded. Soulbind was powerful. Ironically it was (debatably) the least morally dubious of all the binds and yet it was the most dangerous. The one spell no one in their right mind would ever perform. To bind someone's free will was one thing. To combine their entire essence and being to your own was another. And no one would ever tie themselves down like that.

Only an idiot would ever commit such a stupid, self-crippling act.

Only an idiot.

* * *

Hope you enjoy. Please review and I'll see you next time.


	3. Repercussions

Chapter 3 Repercussions

The wind rustled slightly through the trees, spraying bits of rain into Rory and Raven's faces. It was surprising how much of their time was actually spent in trees, or running through them. Huddled up against the trunk, wrapped in thick green cloaks, Rory wondered why it always rained whenever they did a stake out. Like seriously, who did she piss off?

On the other side of the tree bark, Raven had gone to sleep. Rory could hear her quiet snores. She marvelled at how easily Raven could slip off into dream land. A tree was hardly the most comfortable place to nap and they'd been up in this one for hours. Rory spent the time deep in thought, lost to the world as the mental picture in her mind watched and re-watched recent events, analysing everything, missing nothing. Raven spent it sleeping. Somehow that seemed to summarise the two of them quite nicely.

Far below them, hidden through the foliage was the beaten down road. Travellers would pass right under their tree, with no idea who was sitting up in its branches. Of course even if they did know, they wouldn't have recognised them. Raven's illusionment magic had taken over their faces, tanning them brown (or in Rory's case browner). Her dark gold hair was now braided and the colour of the bark which she leant against. Her cheeks bulged outwards guinea pig style, her nose ran straight without her impish curve at the end. Her lips were now heart shaped, a similar thickness but with a less prominent top lip that curved with a cupid's bow. Her two front teeth were ordinary sized and straight, her mouth no longer settled in a natural part. Her chin no longer pointed slightly, her face was rounded, her cheekbones hidden by the plump of her cheeks. Freckles gone.

And she was taller, leaner. Her usual large, stubby legs were gone, stretched. Her chest had expanded to fit with the average Fioran Chest size of too-big-to-see-the-rest-of-you. She had more muscle toning now, no tummy that bulged slightly over her waistline. Her behind had shrunk to fit the athletic look, her shoulder's narrowing.

An entire new face, and entire new body.

Not even her own mother would recognise her now. Although that wasn't saying much considering her mother. Rory amended; not even her siblings and grandmother would be able to recognise her now. Although actually, considering her grandmother, she probably would be able to sense through the illusion. And her older brother Fen would probably know because Tsuki, her grandmother's apprentice, would tell him just to show off. So really it was only her sister Lavender that wouldn't know.

Except now Rory thought more about it, illusion magic couldn't change the eyes, the windows to your soul. She still had her grandmother's eyes, storm grey and brooding. Would Lavender put two and two together and recognised Rory from eye colour alone? Was Lavender really that perceptive?

Rory pulled herself out of her thoughts with a slight snort. Behind her Raven jerked awake. Rory was over thinking as usual. Over analysing herself into stupidity. That's what happened when your closest companions are your own thoughts and a displaced hypersomnic Northerner. Who at that moment was muttering something under her breath, shifting uncomfortably against the bark.

"Anthin' happen yet?" Raven asked.

"Roads are clear."

"Right." Raven muttered and Rory knew she was settling down to sleep again.

It seemed like an age since Kohl had taken her, Raven and Doc out into the woods and Rory had practised bind magic for the first time. It made the events of Okator's tomb and Fairy Tail seem even further away, no longer important in the grand scheme of things. Who cared about some silly dagger when Rory could bind a man's will to her guild's vision. When the underworld was playing up and for the first time Rory was actually required to get involved. When, instead of a tomb she was up in a tree. Instead of cool dank air she got wind and rain. Instead of her own laboured silence she got Raven's snores. Instead of a dead guy at the end of the path, she got a live one.

At that moment her 'promotion' was not raking up much enthusiasm.

The tree was uncomfortable, the rain unpleasant, and her own musing even more so. At times like this her mind would go through the same old thought patterns, the same worries. The farm, her mother, what to do about her grandmother, what to do about her mother, what to do about Lavender. What to do what to do.

It was easy to forget about responsibility when you're miles underground decoding ancient runes and booby traps. It's harder when you're in a tree about two hours from home. To the east Rory could see forest covered hills that bordered the farm. The same forest that ran across the land, stretching all the way down to her tree and the road. The river would run somewhere beyond the hills. She could practically _see_ the place of her childhood laid out and hidden behind those land masses. It was disconcerting to be so close to home, yet working. Thoughts of her brother and sister overlapped those of work, it was hard to keep them separated.

What if Fen came along the road right now? What if he had business out of town, beyond the hills and he took this road. What if she saw his light blond hair, fair Fioran skin, the imitation of their father, heard him whistling as he walked, dog at his side ever faithful.

The answer would be she'd do nothing. She would sit in the tree and watch till he was out of sight. Neither she nor Raven would move. Fennel would be nothing more than a simple civilian, taking his dog for a walk. If the weather were nicer and Fen were dressed in something more regal than a simple farmer's work gear, Raven might suggest they rob him. You know, for fun. Then Rory would have to reply that she was a bind mage now Raven, and she had more important things to do than rob farmers. Like sitting in trees. Waiting.

Waiting was always the worst part the plan. Too much time for thinking and doubting. Rory didn't like waiting, she felt uneasy. And they'd been waiting a long time. Too long. They should have come by now.

"Oi Ginger I think you need to cut your lead. We've been sitting in this tree for hours now. Nothing has come, they're not coming."

Raven grumbled, her voice groggy from sleep. "They'll come Dutch. Be patient, my lead ain't wrong."

Or are they? Rory thought. It just didn't feel right somehow. Behind her she could hear Raven muttering in annoyance at being woken up. A good friend would keep quiet and let Raven sleep.

Sod that.

"I'm bored." She announced, frowning at the sky.

Raven snorted. "Ye not turnin' yeself crazy with all that thinkin'? I can hear yer brain tickin from here. Entertain ye self with yer imagination or somethin it'll pass the time."

"That's what I've been doing!" Rory snapped.

Raven shifted in to a more comfortable position on her branch. "Then do it some more Dutch." She grunted.

"Till I go crazy?" Rory retorted. She was suddenly feeling really on edge. Thoughts about her family and their proximity was making her nervous. And the inevitable feeling of impending doom that one gets from spending their afternoon in a tree was starting to agitate her.

"Don't worry." Raven reassured her dryly. "Loopiness like that runs in a family. Yer fine."

Rory felt her stomach clench and her throat tighten. She let the conversation drop. She'd been intending to entertain herself by annoying Raven. But now silence felt like the better option and her mood for talking washed away with the wind.

 _Loopiness like that runs in a family._

"I hope not." Rory muttered, too quiet to be heard.

* * *

Their target did eventually arrive. After the rain had stopped and patches of sun escaped the cover of the clouds and shone down randomly onto the dirt path. The horse drawn carriage trundled along the road, yet to enter the forest and reach the cover of the trees. Its driver looked vaguely zoned out and wet.

"Told ye they'd come." Raven said, unable to keep the smugness out of her tone.

"You sure it's them." Rory asked, questioning more out of spite than doubt.

"One way to find out." And Raven slid out of the tree.

Standing in the centre of the road, hood shadowing her dark illusioned face, Raven drew her bow and stood waiting, arrow notched non-threateningly towards the ground. Still up in the tree Rory pulled up a small blue portal and reached blindly through it, her arm disappearing into the tree trunk. Her hand closed on what she was looking for and she withdrew a long wooden pole, rather like a hiking stick or the handle to a broom. It was as long as her body, or rather her regular one. Raven's illusionment made her a good head taller. The staff was thicker than the average martial arts cane and the end had been whittled into a small canine-ish creature, rather like a fox but with larger ears.

'Weapon' now in hand she joined Raven on the ground and the two stood ominously in the middle of the road, shrouded by their capes, waiting for the carriage to approach. A slight mist hovered round their feet and somewhere the birds stopped singing.

When they finally came into view the driver didn't stop immediately. When neither of them moved, standing steadfastly in the way, bow drawn and cane ready, he pulled the horses to a halt. Rory knew he couldn't see their faces, and the heaviness of their cloaks left their gender questionable.

"Who goes there." The driver shouted. "Get out the way." His eyes were shifting uneasily at the woodland to their side. The question was whether Rory and Raven were highwaymen or bandits. If they were highwaymen, then they acted alone. Depending on the guts of the driver and whoever was in the carriage they might try and fight. But if they were bandits then hidden somewhere in the foliage there would be more of them. The driver was obviously thinking about his chances.

"Show your faces." He shouted. To give him credit he did not sound scared. Merely wary. _This is not his first raid_ Rory thought. This man was veteran is seemed.

The carriage door banged open and a bronze imperious face peered out. "Driver why have we stopped. Why-"

Raven's arrow thudded against the open door, inches from his ear. Too fast for the horses to even spook. Rory lowered her hood, knowing it made no difference as he would not recognise her face.

"Hello Kyoke." She said. Raven drew another arrow. "The Thieves Guild sends their regards."

Kyoke's face became stony. With a quick glance back inside the carriage he relied; "I am honoured to receive them." And he got out the carriage.

Young and regal looking with skin like leather, and long silky black hair, Kyoke strolled uneasily towards them. The horses began shifting uneasily and the driver spoke quietly to them, his eye never leaving the two girls.

"To whom do I owe the pleasure." Kyoke asked, eyes roaming Rory's face looking for a hint of recognition. Raven's hood was still up and she remained silent and hidden behind it's shadow. Evidently Rory would be leading this one.

"They call me Tombraider." Rory announced. "Duchess of the thieves guild. My companion here is Raven Nightingale. We've met before." _Just with different faces._

Kyoke's handsome face stayed a careful mask. Though his eye's gave him away. They flickered nervously. "You're a long way from any tombs, my lady. I have no business to give you."

"Haven't you heard?" She called jovially back. "I've been promoted." Rory rested her staff casually over one shoulder and smiled, showing off her new evenly shaped white teeth courtesy of Raven. "Neutralise him."

The command barely left her lips before Raven released her arrow. It struck him in the middle of chest, but instead of piercing him, it stuck to his clothes like a toilet plunger. Electric shock after electric shock buzzed through his body and he landed on his knees, dazed. The lightning arrows were never enough to kill, but were at a high enough voltage to leave you stunned. Kyoka's head lolled. The driver swore. Raven notched another arrow and Rory approached the collapsed man.

She pulled the arrow off his chest with a soft squelching nose, careful not to touch to the rubber end and crouched down in front of him, her staff acting like a barrier between their faces. A singular prison bar.

"Now a little birdy told me that you've not been singing all that much recently." She said quietly to him. "That you've been lying to our friends about what you know. Is that right Kye?"

"No." He mumbled. "No I haven't I -"

"Oh but you have." Rory said using the tone one might use to admonish a small child. "We know you have. The Thieves Guild doesn't appreciate false information Kyoke. Doesn't appreciate it at all."

"Please, my master said-"

"Your master?" Rory echoed. "This has nothing to do with your master. You serve him in the light the report back to us in the shadows. That was the deal you made was it not?"

"Yes but-"

"To be our eyes and ears in the Green Falcon guild."

"Yes-"

"In exchange for your freedom."

"Please-"

"You _owe_ us Kyoke. " Rory said, shaking her head. "You owe us a favour and this is how you repay our help, with _lies_? Without us you wouldn't even be in your guild. You wouldn't have a master. Do you want me to send you back to where you were before? Unemployed in _Steven_?"

"No!" Kyoke cried, sweating now. "Duchess please, you have to understand! Giving away client information is bad for business-"

"Ye ken what else is bad for business?" Raven spoke up for the first time. "An arrow in the face."

Kyoke gulped. He couldn't see Raven's face under the cowl but almost chipper tone of her voice scared him more than if she'd sounded threatening. Rory smirked .

"Secrets and favours Kyoke." She carried on. "Secrets and favours. You owe us a favour, which is to tell us your secrets and yet-"

"I know secrets!" He interrupted desperately. "Good secrets! Secrets about you Duchess! Secrets you don't know."

Rory raised her eyebrows. The amused look washed from her face. Using the animal side of her staff, she tipped Kyoke's face upwards so her was looking her in the eye. Brown to grey. Earth to storm. "And what secrets would that be Kye?"

Kyoke licked his lips and glanced nervously back at the carriage. "They're after you."

Rory narrowed her eyes. "Who are after me?"

" _Duchess!_ " Raven's voice rang out warningly. Her bow was drawn fully now and pointed towards the carriage.

Rory didn't look away from Kyoke, frozen in position. "Who have you brought with you Kye?" She asked in a low voice. "Who else is here?"

Kyoke just shook his head, the tip of Rory's staff following the movement. "Forgive me Duchess." He breathed just as a deep, sensuous, melodious voice emanated from the open carriage door.

"~ Ah the bitter scent of betrayal. It sends shivers down my spine. _Men_ ~"

 _Oh no_. The carriage began to tilt as the weight was shifted towards the door. _Not here_. A small pudgy hand gripped the door frame, another splaying flat against the open door, white sleeves pulled backwards off hairy wrists. _Not now_. A small black foot stuck out, wiggling in the air, there was hint of red coppery hair meeting the open air.

"Not him." Rory whimpered as the speaker emerged from the carriage, climbing down the steps on the dirt road. His very appearance made Rory tremble. The man who stood before them was short, stout with a huge, rectangular head. His large flat nose gave the impression of having been slammed several times against a wall. He wore a crisp white suit, an orange Blue Pegasus emblem on one of the shoulders. The shadow of a horse with crossed wings.

"Ichiya Kotobuki." Raven whispered, her voice thick with dread.

"You go by different faces, Raven Nightingale and Tombraider, Duchess of the Thieves Guild but I still recognise your sweet, deadly parfums." Ichiya declared bringing his short arms to a cross in front of him. "Your illusion is no match for my perception!"

" _He's_ the one after Dutch?" Raven asked, a mixture of disbelief and disgust. Kyoke barely managed a nod, fear clouding his ability to answer. Rory looked from Ichiya to Kyoke in horror. It would have been less offensive if he had brought a guild of assassins. Preferred even. Regular betrayal she could handle, but Blue Pegasus crossed a personal line.

" _And you led him to me!_ " Rory hissed venomously. The initial shock was wearing off now, suitably replaced by an insulted fury and personal revulsion.

Kyoke winced. "They gave me no choice Duchess!"

Rory went pale. " _They_?" Raven echoed weakly.

Ichiya chuckled and pulled from inside his white blazer a small blue vial. "Swoon and tremble at my own perfume of deception! Come forth _men_!" And he uncorked the lid.

A thick white mist bubbled over the top of the rim and filled the air like Joyan Mist that happened to smell like rotten eggs and lemon grass. Rory choked and gagged, her vision blurring. Strong hands grasped on her shoulder, pulling her and Kyoke up and back. They both stumbled into Raven who dragged them further down the road, putting a greater distance between them and the wizard. Through the poor visibility Rory saw she'd finally pulled her hood down, using the cowl to now cover her mouth and nose. Her illusioned face was of a similar darkness and shape to Rory's. The only major difference was the blue of her eyes, the only part that remained Raven. Those eye's connected with Rory's now and they were wide and panicked.

A male voice rang out through the fog "Aerial Blast!" A gust of wind blew form the direction of the carriage, dispersing the majority of the fog and confirming Rory's suspicions.

Where only Ichiya had stood before, three more men now joined him. Three younger, handsomer men. They wore black styled suits and gorgeous smirks. It was the kind of smirk where the owner just _knew_ how dramatic their entrance was and how fucking gorgeous they looked doing it. They stood in a line behind Ichiya, staring down the two thieves and traitor. Their desired effect fell a bit short however when Rory noticed that the driver and horses had disappeared and realised that two of them had just spent the past however-long as a pair of mares. It gave her a small sick satisfaction knowing that they had been turned into horses.

"No!" Kyoke gasped, falling backwards. "Its them! I had no idea they were involved too!"

Ichiya's fog now swirled at their ankles, hovering off the road and the roots of the bordering trees. It started to rain again, and Rory wondered if they were purposefully manipulating the weather to give them a cool effect. It was the kind of thing they would do.

"The Trimens!" Kyoke cried. "Silent Night Ren!" The tall, tanned one of the three, lifted a hand to cup one side of his face, resting his elbow in his arm. "Holy Night Eve!" The small, slightly prepubescent baby faced blonde put a hand on his hip and extended his over arm pointing two fingers at them. "Hundred Night Hibiki!" Kyoke finished in horror. The middle man of the three tilted his chin, arms crossed in front of him, his fore and middle fingers pointing towards the sky.

Raven and Rory exchanged glances. On the scale of bad to total shit storm these three rested nicely in the _are-you-kidding-me?_ section. Not good. Not good at all. No way near Titania bad, but not good. A silent conversation transgressed between Rory and Raven in that singular glance. _Eve has got a haircut._

 _He looks like a turnip_ Raven blinked back in Morse code. It was a critical observation. The lad had indeed styled his hair so it lay smooth around his face with a singular tuft at the top of his head.

She and Raven may have been criminals whom Blue Pegasus had a personal vendetta against (which had absolutely nothing to do with the fact they once 'commandeered' and 'crashed' their airship Christina that one time over Bosco) but they were still girls. They still bought the magazines. Rory's younger sister Lavender had at least three posters of the Trimens on her bedroom wall. Rory had had in depth debates on which was the hottest. Just because the good looking boys Rory and Raven talked about happened to be the ones arresting them, didn't mean that their girl talk was any less validated.

"It's a shame." Eve called across the distance. "It appears your illusions are rather unappealing today. And here we were preparing to meet the faces underneath."

"There's no need to be shy." Hibiki continued in a seductive tone. "I sense great beauty under that magic."

"Not that we're interested in seeing them or anything." Ren finished indifferently, turning his head to the side and refusing to look at them.

The two thieves exchanged another wry look. Along with their 'famed' looks, the three of them were known for their womanising tendencies. Their leader Ichiya, not to be out done by his younger (and frankly hotter) comrades stepped forward.

"Surrender Duchess now and we will not have cause to damage those beautiful, illusioned faces, _men_!" He cried out to them, his sultry voice juxtaposing just about everything else about him.

Raven and Rory looked at each other again.

"How about no?" Rory offered.

A sadistic glint flashed in Hibiki's eyes. He rolled up his sleeves. "We were kind of hoping you would say that."

"Our mission is to take Tombraider into custody. And only Tombraider. But should you interfere Nightingale you shall receive the same fate." Ren promised.

Rory narrowed her eyes, mind whirling. Only her. Why only her? She and Raven had been partners during the kidnapping of an air ship. The crime was equal. Even Doc had been there. Why were they singling her out?

"Don't think we'll hold back just because you're women!" Eve warned, his high girly voice not really matching the gravity of the threat. Rory liked how they completely glossed over Kyoke. If she remembered correctly he used holder magic. They must have removed his items before he set them up. Either that or he just wasn't a threat with his magic anyway.

Snow began to swirl around Eve, Ren summoned a gust of wind that ruffled his already rugged hair, Ichiya brought out another corked bottle and Hibiki simply smiled.

Raven gulped. "Do we have a plan here or..?" She queried her voice rather high.

"Er, yes." Rory decided. " _Run._ "

"Excellent."

Raven sent her arrow soaring through the air towards the Trimens. It buried itself deep into the ground about a metre from their feet. "You missed." Kyoke said dumbly. "How could you miss they are literally ten metres in front o-" Then the arrow blew up and as one they both turned and bolted for the woodland next to them, dragging Kyoke after them as the sky rained road.

They hurtled through the trees, Rory in front whacking at the foliage in their path with her stick. Raven galloped after her, pulling along Kyoke by his silky ponytail. Behind them there were shouts and blasts of magic. Forces of wind came chasing after them. It was getting harder to breathe as Ren's magic sucked the oxygen out the area. The woodland was quickly becoming a winter wonderland as the falling rain turned to a thick blizzard of snow. A Force Blast hit them in the back and sent them flying into the air.

" _WHAT DID YE DO_?" Raven let out a guttural, angry, air bound roar to Rory, as if their current predicament was all _her_ fault.

" _Nothing_!" Rory shouted back just as angrily after she landed back on her feet.

"Well ye must have done somethin' otherwise we wouldna be ass deep in snow right now with the Hail-Mary Zentopian choir boys after us!" Raven yelled, forcefully pulling Kyoke up and out of the snow that had piled up in a matter of seconds.

"It's not them whose after her!" Kyoke told them as they ran on, teeth shattering under the thick white blizzard around them.

Behind them Ren shouted " _Aerial Shot!_ " The ground behind them shattered. The lumps of rock began to levitate and were hurled after their retreating backs. Raven whirled round, firing her explosive arrows at the rocks, destroying them before they got too close.

"What do you mean?" Rory shouted over the commotion as she and Kyoke sheltered behind a tree next to Raven. "They seem pretty after me at the moment!" She spat snow out her mouth, the storm was becoming so thick she could barely see the trees around her.

Kyoke shook his head, his silky black hair fuzzed up and spilling from his ponytail. A singular snowflake got caught on the ledge that was his right cheekbone. "It's not personal! They're just doing a mission. Someone issued out a quest to have you captured and brought to them for three million Jewels. The flyer went out to every legal guild in the country. My guild received one too."

Raven's head whipped round at stare at them, releasing her arrow without looking. " _What in the hell did ye do Duchess?"_

"I have _no_ idea!"

"Ye are not worth three million Jewels!"

" _I know_!"

Somewhere out in the trees Eve yelled " _White Fang!"_ They all dived to the side, avoiding the snow blast.

"We need to keep moving!" Rory shouted. "If we stay still we'll freeze to death in this blizzard." It was one of the few facts she could remember about Eve's magic from Sorcerer Weekly. See. The magazines had their uses.

"We _need_ a portal!" Raven bellowed as the three of them navigated through the white woodland.

"Not with Hibiki on the field!" Rory gasped back, the cold and lack of oxygen was making it harder to breathe. "I can't risk him tracing the magic back to me, it's bad enough Titania knows!"

"So what, yer plan is to just run?"

"That _was_ the idea."

They dived over frozen bracken, skidding along the frozen tree roots.

"We don't even know whose after me!" Rory managed to point out. She could see out the of the corner of her eye, Raven's skin paling and her hair turning red. The illusion was fading, they were running out of time.

"It's a cult!" Kyoke wheezed. "They're the benefactors."

Raven's head snapped towards Rory, her eyes bulging out of her face. "A _CULT?_ " She screeched furiously. "Ye pissed off a cult? What the hell is wrong with ye Duchess?"

" _I haven't done anything_!" Rory roared back indignantly. She racked her mind wildly for anything that would make sense in this. She couldn't even remember the last time she's been with a cult.

Kyoke grabbed the two of them and pulled them behind a tree, as another wave of rocks came flying out of the blizzards towards them. Pressed up close together Raven yelled in Rory's face; "Cultists don't hire mages for nothin'! Ye must have done somethin' you _idiot!_ Complete Moron! A _cult!_ Fucking excellent. _"_

Rory blinked snowflakes out of her eyes. Right before her Raven's contorted face was becoming more Raven like by the second and she knew her face wasn't any better. At least the blizzard offered a poor enough visibility for the Trimens to not notice any change.

"Which cult is it?" She asked Kyoke as he pulled them through the iced shrubbery, not even bothering to protest her innocence anymore.

"The followers of some archaic priest called Okator." He yelled over his shoulder. Rory felt herself go very cold and it had nothing to do with the snow magic. Raven noticed her face change.

" _What?_ " She hissed scathingly, spitting hair out of her mouth. Rory licked her dry lips, thinking fast.

"I might have done something."

There was another force blast from Hibiki though Rory had no idea where he was, she could barely see anything through the snow.

" _Ye don't say!_ " Raven thundered as they once again flew through the air.

The three of them landed in a snowdrift in the middle of a clearing. Or at least Rory assumed it was a clearing, the blizzard only allowed her to see a few metres around her and she couldn't spot any trees. As they detangled themselves Ichiya's voice came floating through the white air. They began to run again.

"~You can run Duchess but you can't hide. I can track your parfum through any weather. There is no escape from me and my _men_ ~" Out of the blizzard the figure of Ichiya came into view, standing solitary and unaffected against the storm. "Surrender to my sweet parfum!" He cried, drawing out a vial from his blazer.

In one fluid motion Raven drew her bow and fired, planting her arrow in the middle of Ichiya's forehead, electrocuting him. His body tensed up in pain, his red hair standing even more on end. Without breaking stride, Rory hurtled past him, whacking him hard between the legs with her cane as she ran. The force from her blow lifted him off the ground with a cry of "~ _Men!_ ~" and Kyoke slid on his knees through the gap. He grabbed Rory's stick as he slipped by, pulling it out from between Ichiya's legs and Rory used it to haul Kyoke back to his feet. It was with sick satisfaction that they left the tiny man twitching in the snow, nursing his crotch with Raven's arrow still sending shocks through his body.

They hit the trees again, literally in Rory's case, the blizzard becoming thicker and thicker and Rory wondered if Eve's magic got more powerful the longer he used it. Her and Raven's thick green cloaks were now entirely white with snow, camouflaging them against the white world. She had no idea how Kyoke was surviving in his thin silk shirt and trousers.

Raven pulled them to a stop behind tangle of icy that now looked like a frozen curtain. "We need a new plan." She gasped out. "This wood goes on for miles we canna keep runnin'."

"Where's the closest town?" Kyoke managed.

"The Loire." Rory told them. "Performers Guild territory. If we head east beyond the hills we'll hit the river and Flatlands. But there are outlying farming villages that are closer."

Raven shook her head, more of her illusion fading away with the movement. "It's too far. We need evac now." She looked pointedly at Rory.

Rory let out a growl of frustration. "I can't! We're not supposed to reveal our magic remember!"

"This blizzard is too thick for them to tell!" Raven yelled, an icicle forming on her beaking nose.

"And I'm telling you Hibiki will know!"

Kyoke looked between them in frozen comprehension. "Wait you two are mages? I thought the thieves guild was non magical!"

Raven cast her eyes to the heavens to avoid Rory's smug _'you see that's why_ ' look. "Of course we're mages ye bampot! What d'ye think powers these! Coal?" She yelled sarcastically, brandishing one of her electrocution arrows. "Yer lookin at one of the most powerful mages walkin' the earth right now!"

Kyoke stared at her dumbly. "She's means me." Rory clarified. "Or well she doesn't. It's supposed to be ironic. Hence why we're running and not fighting."

Kyoke looked between the two. "Can your magic get us out of here?"

"No." Rory said at the same time Raven said "Yes." They glared at each other.

Then out of the snow Hibiki's voice yelled, " _Surround them_!"

The three of them clung together, and whipped round towards the direction of the Trimen. Behind them Ren's voice shouted "Your time's up Duchess!"

To their left Eve cried "There's nowhere to go!"

"Now!" Hibiki bellowed. "Revenge lord Ichiya and attack them at once! _Force Blast_!"

" _White Fury!"_

 _"Aerial Phose!"_

As somewhere in the blizzard the three spells came spiralling towards them, Raven gave Rory a furious look as if to say _are bloody kidding me?_ and Rory relented, her blue portal opening up under their feet and she, Raven and the screaming Kyoke fell through into nothing, just as the Trimen's spells crashed together above their heads.

* * *

Rory and Raven landed hard in the dumpster. Kyoke fell past them and landed face flat on the floor, his scream cutting off with impact. Their back alley was cool and shaded, yet it felt desert in comparison to Eve's blizzard. The snow that fell through the portal with them was already starting to melt in the Crocus summer air.

Rory groaned, rolling her neck. "I swear to Zentopia if the next cell I end up in has a magical barrier so I can't portal out-"

"-We'll break ye out the old fashioned way." Raven finished sluggishly, climbing out the garbage. She unclasped the frozen cloak and left it among the black bin bags. Her illusion was entirely gone now. Her clothes were too big and hung far too short off her tall, skinny frame. In comparison, Rory's clothes now felt way too long and especially tight over her hips, legs and shoulders. She joined Raven on the ground, leaving the almost comfy bed of bins and winced as there was a slight tearing sound and she knew she'd ripped her trousers. It'd been stretched to breaking point over her ass.

Wordlessly Raven handed Rory her shirt and she tied it round her waist so her behind was covered. Breaking clothes was a common occurrence after coming out of illusion. Something was always too short or too small. Many people never realised that illusion magic had the potential to genuinely change ones appearance, and not just seem like it did. Rory and Raven didn't just look like they'd changed, they had. But then again at the same time it is only an illusion of change. Which is kind of confusing. Raven's magic just followed some questionable science and Rory liked to leave it that.

At their feet Kyoke moaned and rolled over. He was met with Raven's arrow tip pointed directly over his nose. Rory was reminded of when she'd woken up in a similar situation to Titania's sword point.

The traitor gulped audibly and brought up his hands, his eyes widening under their murderous faces. "Parley?" He squeaked.

* * *

The capital city of Fiore, Crocus, otherwise known as the city of flowers was famous for its hotels, bars and yes floral displays. It was in one of the lesser known, underground bars, named _The Courtroom_ that Kohl the barman worked amongst the sweat and the smoke.

It was a quiet day in the Courtroom, it always was. Kohl stood silently behind the bar, leisurely cleaning a glass. Through his hanging black hair, he watched the room, its occupants sitting quietly in twos, threes or alone, nursing their drinks. The air of peace was interrupted, however when down the stair way and through the only door, stomped Duchess and Raven, dragging a whimpering man after them. A few occupants turned to look as one of the girls stormed across the room.

"'The tombs owner is irrelevant!'" Rory quoted, emphasising each word angrily, as she marched towards Kohl. "'Just some priest, I think.'"

Her olive skin was flushed pink with cold, her unfavourably dark blonde hair, so dark it was almost brunette was damp and beginning to curl at the edges. Her eyes the colour of a passing storm and were flashing like lightning. For a woman with such a short, dumpy figure she could sure look imposing. Some of people who'd turned round and were watching with silent interest, drew away as she stalked by, looking down at their drinks, only looking up after she passed.

She reached the bar and slammed her staff flat against its top. Kohl raised one dark eyebrow. "Something the matter, Chess?"

She snarled. "Okator has a cult. A _cult_ , Kohl!"

Kohl continued to look placidly at her. "I take it from your angry expression you were not aware."

Rory narrowed her eyes. "The dagger," she said quietly reigning in her anger to something colder, "you said it was magical, what does it do?"

"Does it matter?" Kohl asked. "The thing's already half way to Bosco right now."

"Well seeing as Okator's cult following has issued a three million Jewel reward for my capture to every single fucking legal guild in the kingdom, I'm gonna go ahead and say yeah _, it matters_."

Kohl's expression didn't change. "Ah." Rory smirked viciously as her news sunk in. Kohl did not look panicked or thrown, or any different from usual but he set down the glass he'd been cleaning and Rory knew she'd hit home.

"We just come from the Redwoods near the Flatlands." Raven informed him, joining Rory at the bar. Kyoke stayed kneeling at their feet, bound and gagged. "Where _this one,"_ She kicked Kyoke and he fell over, "stitched us up and handed us over to those pretty boys from Blue Pegasus. "

"The whole thing was a set up." Rory added. "He knew we were coming. Must have paid off Raven's lead to get us there." _No wonder I had a bad feeling._

"We just escaped a blizzard that would make Icebergian's run for cover. That Eve wizard is gettin' stronger." Raven added.

"Noted." Kohl turned his attention down to the trembling Kyoke. "Now what to do with our recreant."

Kyoke gulped as he met the barman's black, soulless eyes. Of all the eyes watching him in the room, these were the ones he dared not look away from. He sat, spell bound by the black abyss of Kohl's gaze. "Please," he whispered. "Please, I didn't know it was going to be all four of them, the deal was only Ichiya. Please. I didn't have a choice-"

"There is always a choice." Kohl interrupted monotonously. "Now it is one thing refusing to pay a favour rightfully owed, but it is quite another to rat out a member of our guild."

Kyoke seemed to stop shaking. Whatever he was seeing in Kohl's eyes was making him freeze from fear. "Please let me go." He whispered. "Let me go and I will serve you loyally." He begged the barman. "Please don't harm me. Think of my children!"

"Ye don't have any children." Raven reminded him bluntly.

"Someday I might."

Rory scoffed and turned away. She couldn't bear to look at his pathetically handsome face any longer. His lack of dignity was sickening. "Just give him to the Court." She snapped at Kohl. "That way we'll know he won't ever betray us again."

Kohl looked at Rory and Kyoke practically sagged with relief as he was released from his gaze. "If that is what you wish." He said. "Would you like to do the honours?"

"Do the honours?" Kyoke echoed fearfully his eyes snapping between the two of them. "Honours of what? What's the court? The King's court? Wait, no! Not the Garou knights!"

Raven snorted humourlessly. "Wrong Court, bampot. Don't worry, ours is much more fun. Less death, more _miracles._ " Her words seemed to make Kyoke even more terrified, even though Rory was sure he had no idea what she was talking about.

"Chess?" Kohl prompted.

"No." Rory decided, looking down without any pity at the man snivelling at her feet. "I would rather not have my first official bind be such a coward. Let someone else have him. I have a cult to deal with."

Kohl nodded once and made a gesture at some nearby men. As one they rose and picked up the ropes tying Kyoke down and began to drag him behind the bar.

"See ye around Kye." Raven called cheerfully after him as he was pulled out of sight. They could hear his cries right up until the trap door behind the bar fell shut, and Kyoke was gone. "What a cry baby." She commented, shaking her head. "And to think ye once said he was attractive Dutch."

Rory sighed and slumped forward onto the bar. Her cheek squashed against the wood and she groaned. A cult was after her. Along with probably every single legal guild in the country. Sure, as a member of the thieves guild, she was technically already a fugitive of the law. But that was different. The legal guilds weren't ever involved in her arrest and capture. Until now.

 _Three million Jewel_ , Rory thought. _That's way more than what the Kingdom's official reward is._ All that money over a single dagger. And she didn't even know what kind of cult Okator's people were. Sacrilegious? Sacrificial? Sacred? All three? Did they worship a volcano? Or a monstrous deity that is actually a demon from the book of Zeref? What did Okator do? Rory had just assumed he'd been a Zentopian priest. Was Okator's cult some subset of Zentopia?

Rory hoped so. Church monitored cults she could deal with. Volcano/demon worshipping, cannibalistic, virgin sacrificing, anti-trade war revolutionaries, taken a vow of eternal silence/chastity/nudity cults she could not. They terrified her at most and gave her headaches at the least.

 _Please just let them be vegans_ she prayed. Just peaceful, vegan cultists who want their dead leader's dagger back. Nothing more.

But of course, Rory was not that lucky.

* * *

Ah if only they were vegans. And poor Kyoke. Don't worry we'll be seeing him again at some point. But hey we have an actual plot line now! Fairy Tail wasn't in this chapter but I hope Blue Pegasus was a nice change. Also I'd like to mention that Raven's accent is supposed to the Earthland version of Scottish. There were a few references in this chapter, did you get them all?

Hope you enjoyed, please review and I'll see you next time.


	4. An intrusion

Chapter four of Okator Arc; An intrusion. 

* * *

On the outskirts of Camellia Village, a quiet little farming hamlet west of the Loire, resided the North family farm. Its golden fields stretched across the Flatlands bordering Redwood. The farm house itself was rather small, hand built from the crumbling barn it had been by the Midian man who bought the land. A small worn down path ran past the property and straight into the woods where it would lead up to the old little cottage where his wife had plied her trade for many years. Now that cottage was abandoned. Nobody walked the path anymore to see the Love Witch. If one were to follow it now and pass the cottage entirely, they'd continue up through the woods till they reached the grove where the Love Witch and her husband were buried.

Rosemary North knelt in front the graves of her grandparents. A small stick of incense was burning by her side as she laid her forehead down to the earth. Her grandfather, she had never known. A strong man who had migrated his family north from the southern kingdom of Midi, up through perilous Minstrell and into prosperous Fiore. Joining the farmers guild in the Flatlands he'd sowed a living for himself, his wife and young daughter only to die a few years later, never to see his precious farm become the dream he desired.

The money her grandma earned telling the romantic fortunes of all those who visited went towards running the farm. The proceeds of her mother's music was invested in the farm's prosperous future. The Jewels Rory made in her shadows kept the debt collectors at bay. The North farm may have been bought and built by a man, but it's survival rested on the shoulders of three generations of North women all doing what they could to keep his dream alive.

Rory sat up, inhaled the smoking incense and bowed forward again. It had been a while since she'd been back at the farm. Her life in Crocus kept her more than busy. First she was paying her respects to the dead. Then she will visit the church and pay her respects to the priest. Then it would back to the farm for dinner. Her sister Lavender was thrilled to see her returned. She assumed Rory was back visiting for her birthday. The truth was Rory had completely forgotten.

She breathed in. She breathed out. The guilt gnawed at her. Her apartment in Crocus had been searched, assumingly by wizards hoping to claim a three million Jewel reward. With the city no longer safe, Rory retreated back to the farm, fleeing the guild wizards after her. She'd thought only of herself, but Lavender assumed she was back to celebrate her fourteenth birthday.

She supposed she should be thankful for the timing. Had she missed Lavender's birthday entirely the guilt would have been much worse. This bounty was a blessing in disguise. Working as Duchess was no longer possible with both legal guilds and underworld out for her reward. It meant she could slip back into being Rory North for a week or two till the whole cult thing blew over. Or at least till Raven and Doc found a good enough safe house that wasn't going to be leaked.

She sat up again and looked at her grandmother's grave. She'd dug it herself along with Fen and Lavender, as par the Midian tradition. The three of them have never been to their mother's or grandparent's homeland, but their childhood was heavily immersed in the culture and traditions of the tiny southern nation. And they honoured their Midi heritage just as much as their Fioran nationality.

It was a Midian grave, identical to the one next to it. It bore no Headstone, instead a long pole stood from the ground, her family's Midian house symbol carved into the top. A small fox like animal with large pointed ears. Carved along the shaft of each pole was writing. It bore the names and dates of her grandparents written in the characters of the Midian dialect, the only distinguisher between the graves.

Rory had never quite decided if, when she died, she would follow the traditions of a Midi burial and lay with her grandparents or if she would have a Zentopian funeral and be buried in a graveyard. Whether her last remaining mark in this world would be a headstone or a cane. Her mother, she knew from her will, was to have a Fioran service in the local church. But her children were to burn incense for her by her mother's grave, to honour her roots.

She bowed one last time and muttered a prayer in Midi to her ancestors and to the spirits. She prayed for wisdom and guidance. She asked for blessing on her chosen path. She knew her grandmother could hear her. Whether she would bother to answer was another question entirely. Rory had never quite decided where her beliefs fully lay; with the Zentopian God (or any type of God for that matter) or with the spirits worshiped in the south. But she figured it couldn't hurt to pay homage to both.

She began the long walk back to the farm house, out of the woods, across the golden fields and wooden fences, back to the Old Barn that was her childhood home.

* * *

The circular gray stone kitchen of The Old Barn was thick with aromatic spices that came wafting out of the large pot on the stove. At the centre of the room was huge wooden table, its surface old and worn from years of stains and carvings etched into its soft wood. Like a universe orbits around one pivotal point, life at the Old Barn farm house revolved round its kitchen, and its kitchen around this old, battered furniture. This table was where everything came together; family, fights, food. Across its surface were scattered papers, books, the odd shuriken, nail vanish and a bowl of untouched fruit sitting at its centre, a sign attached to the top orange reading; **warning do not eat this fruit**.

At one of cushioned chairs sat a young girl in her school uniform. Her skin was a rich brown and freckled, her afro-like curly hair was a vivid shade of lavender and pulled haphazardly back into two low bunches. She wore gale-force reading glasses over her own blue spectacles, her purple eyes the exact same shade as her hair, and was staring intently at a colourful magazine on the table. Her attention only broke when the back door opened.

Lavender North looked up as her sister entered the room, a basket full of herbs over her arm, and her face split into a toothy, brace filled smile. It was not a common sight, her sister returning and Lavender learned early on to appreciate each moment Rory came back.

"That's a good look." Rory said dryly, nodding at the doubled up glasses.

"The next issue of Sorcerer weekly arrived." Lavender explained lisping slightly (somewhere within early childhood she had picked up a lot more 'th's than other children) and pushed the magical specs to the top of her head. "You back from visiting grandma? Did she visit you or is she still sulking?"

Rory hummed back a vague no, dumping the basket on the table. She leaned down over Lavender's shoulder and inspected the magazine on the table. The page was opened on a spread of three, very good-looking, very familiar mages all posing for the camera. To one side of the page was an interview with the three with a small black and white picture of the writer, Jason, in the bottom corner.

"The Trimens." Lavender sighed dreamily, resting her chin on her hands. "They're _so_ hot."

"And _so_ too old for you." Rory reminded her bluntly, flicking over the next few pages that seemed to the be dedicated the boys talking about their 'perfect woman'.

"Nuh-uh! Eve's only sixteen. That's like two years difference. Totally acceptable." Lavender argued. Rory smiled at her insistent gaze, and continued flicking through the magazine searchingly.

"Oh, I already took the bikini spreads out for you." Lavender told her. "They're on your bed. I figured you'd want to examine them in a more private environment."

Rory laughed at her cheeky tone. "You know me so well." She shook her head and began sorting through the herbs in the basket. Lavender returned to her page on the Blue Pegasus mages and sighed wistfully.

"Wouldn't it be, like, the most perfect birthday ever if I got to meet them?" She mused. Her eyes flicked up suddenly to her sister. "Steal them for me?"

"And why would I do that?" Rory asked lightly, bunching piles of rosemary in her hand and adding it to the cupboard.

"Early birthday present?" Lavender offered, her eyes twinkling behind her large blue glasses.

"Can't." Rory sighed with exaggerated regret. "I've already gotten you your early birthday present."

Lavender immediately jumped up with excitement, magazine forgotten. With a grin, Rory put aside the basket and reached for her bag that hung from one of the chairs. Lavender gasped when her sister retrieved her gift.

"An authentic Joyan hunting knife!" She exclaimed, examining the bone blade and wooden hilt. "The goat herders use these up in the mountains. Where'd you get it? The Merchants don't bother selling them in Fiore!"

"Eh, found it somewhere." Rory shrugged. She'd actually accidentally stolen it from a Joyan embassy last spring (long story, and yes, you _can_ steal stuff by accident-it is a thing). She'd never actually intended for it to be Lavender's 'early' birthday present, although she'd always meant to give it to her. Now she was glad she forgot to gift her sister earlier as the blade served as a good emergency birthday backup. "Is it worthy of the collection?"

Lavender frowned, her perfect freckled forehead wrinkling. She flicked the knife and sunk with a heavy clunk into the windowsill across the room. She tucked a stray wild curl behind her ear and slow languorous grin spread across her face. "Yeah, it'll do." She said with only a hint of sadism.

Rory stared at her beautiful, dorky and moderately terrifying younger sister, who looked so much like their mother it hurt. Behind the braces, glasses and frumpy school jumper and tie her sister was the twin of their once glamorous mother, except where her namesake hair and eyes were Lavender purple, Amora North's was a deep love-heart pink. At least her hair had been, nowadays, her mother's colouring had faded somewhat, and her gloriously pink eyes had lost their shine. A shine, that her younger sister had inherited.

Rory sometimes wished she looked more like her mother like Lavender did. She'd inherited her grandmother's broody grey eyes, and short stout stature, but in essence she was the mix-match combination of her two parents. Her brother took entirely after their father with fair features and broad face and Lavender was their dark Midi mother. Rory just seemed to sit somewhere in between, neither one nor the other. Her complexion was olive skinned and freckled, but then her hair was blond. Her nose had her father's impish curve at the end but then her mouth was thick and full, the top lip curving shapelessly. As they had simplistically described themselves as children, Fen was the white bread, Lavender was the brown bread and Rory was the golden toast in between.

"Hey before you go to church could go collect some of the mushrooms on the edge of Redwood?" Lavender asked, breaking Rory's train of thought. "I was going to ask you before you went to grandma's but I kind of forgot." She grinned sheepishly, her hand splayed on the magazine.

Rory groaned at her; she'd just been to Redwood! She glanced at the clock; Late afternoon, she still had time. With an annoyed sigh she grabbed her cane from besides the door and headed out without a word. Lavender's awkward apologetic " _sorry_!" following her out.

And thus the trek back to the woods began. Across the dusty yard and chickens, past the herb garden and through meadows, she hit the barely fields and carried on walking, the woods looming ever closer on the hills on the horizon. Behind her the house and fence didn't seem that far away. The distance between the Old Barn and the Redwoods was always further than it looked.

It was as Rory was jumping over a sty that it all went tits up. As soon as her hand left the wood and huge wall of code sprang up along the fence. The purple lettering created a barrier between the two fields. Rory blinked at it. The lettering faded. She frowned. Slowly Rory put up her hand and tried to stretch it out back into the previous field. The magic sprang back up again and her hand hit the barrier.

Rory tried opening a portal into the field. She never liked using magic at home, it never really felt right, but this situation was an obvious acception to the rule. The blue disc appeared next to her. But when she stuck her arm through, it was like nothing happened. She was still in the same field. Rory cocked her head.

"Huh."

Rory stared thoughtfully at the fence. She tried opening a portal for the farmhouse. Again the portal materialised but the gateway didn't open. She tried a clear portal and summoned up an image of the farm house just fine, the hens poked about in the yard and smoke rose from the singular chimney. However when she tried to open up the portal gate she couldn't pass through.

Rory looked back at the fence. She deliberated for a moment then ran at it at full pelt. She jumped ready to vault over it, hit the wall of code and was thrown backwards on to her ass. It was only then that she started to panic.

" _Rosemary!_ "

She looked up to see Lavender running towards her in the opposite field, frying pan in hand.

"Wait no Lavender don't!" Rory cried throwing out her hands. Lavender skidded to a halt in front of the fence, perplexed. She shifted and glanced over Rory's shoulder.

"Are you okay? Tsuki sensed an influx of magical energy nears the woods, I came to bring you home." Lavender said, her frying pan brandished and ready.

In the face of situations where one may or may not have cause to panic, Rory's mind liked to hone in the simple, little things, instead of accommodating the grand scale. So instead of getting up immediately, game face on and war mind read, Rory blinked stupidly at her sister. "Tsuki sensed a magical energy influx so you brought a frying pan?"

Lavender looked down at her weapon and flushed slightly. "There wasn't anything else!"

"You have a knife collection. I literally gave you a new knife ten minutes ago."

Lavender pulled a face at her sister. "You know as well as I do blades are no use against the wolves. Now come on, get off your ass and lets go home before something bad happens."

"It's already happened." Rory muttered, getting to her feet. "And it's not the wolves."

"It's not? Oh thank Zentopia!" Lavender sagged breathlessly against the fence, relief momentarily crippling her. The frying pan hung loose by her side. "Still lets go home."

"Yeah I don't think that's possible." Rory lifted her hand and placed against the magic barrier between the two of them. The wall of code reappeared. It was like they were looking at each other through a glass wall. One that someone had rudely graffitied on in purple gibberish.

Lavender surveyed the magic and cocked her head.

"Huh."

Her own experimentation with the magic seal was cut short however when five wooden blocks floated up near them, rather like totem heads, each with little faces painted on them. " _Found her found her_ " They whispered, buzzing round Rory's head, knocking at her hat.

"Hey get away!" Rory battered them away from her head, scrambling backwards.

"Woah they're creepy." Lavender commented, watching with raised eyebrows. When one of the floaty-things approached her she yelped and bashed it with her frying pan, shuddering the way one might at an insect or spider. This was apparently the wrong move as the heads began to glow and form a line, muttering to themselves.

" _Lavende_ r~" Rory said warningly as a green orb of light began to appear amongst them, " _Duck!_ "

The green orb formed a blast of magical energy and it charged straight at Lavender's head. She screamed and hid behind her frying pan, the green light glancing off its surface and flew straight at Rory who bent backwards to avoid it, swearing heavily. " _Sorry_!" Lavender cried awkwardly as Rory yanked her across the fence and then ran down the path, the heads floating after them.

"What even are those things!" She shouted as Rory pulled along the hedge side path. "I swear I recognise them from somewhere!"

"Dunno but they don't seem to like me very much!" Rory brought them round the corner and they skidded to a halt.

 _Crap._

Standing on the grassy raised ground in front of them stood three ominous figures, two men with a women in between. Their shadows stretched across the ground, turning the land black. The dolls immediately flew up to one the men, who was wearing a strange blue armour reminiscent of a knight's with a visor covering his eyes. " _Found her found her_ "

"Well done my babies!" The guy praised them, his tongue waggling out of his mouth, a black, horribly familiar mark stamped across it.

"And here I was thinking Titania would get to her first." The woman in the middle drawled. Her green dress, glasses and first impression of high-class superiority reminded Rory vaguely of Doc. "Well done Bickslow. Now we get that reward all to ourselves, and I get to prove to Titania that _I_ am the better fairy."

The other man in the long red coat and vivid green hair that fell down to his legs frowned down at them. "Whilst it appears my magic seal has worked in negating the magic of her portals, I did not calculate for the other girl. It appears our thief has an accomplice."

Lavender looked ready to die when the three of them turned their attention to her. Her purple eyes were the size of saucers and she stared gloriously up at them through her amass of curls that had come loose from her bunches. "The Thunder God Tribe." She whispered in awe.

Rory pulled her back when she subconsciously began to walk towards them, arm outstretched. "Yeah Lav, I don't think they like me very much either." She warned, her eyes flicking about nervously. Behind and across a meadow stood Redwood looming on the horizon. Behind the trio of wizards before them was the Old Barn, hidden by the rise of the hill. Rory didn't know how far the barrier that blocked their way home ran. These people must have tracked her back to her home somehow. Rory shifted her weight eyes, flicking about. She wondered if there were any more of them.

There came a wild shout from the sky and Rory looked up in horror at the figure of a man flying through the air, supported by a blue cat. It was only after he landed on the hill next to the other three, knees bent, hand braced on the floor, that Rory recognised his bright pink, spiky hair and fluttering scaly scarf.

 _Double crap._

Lavender gasped, spellbound. " _Salamander, Natsu Dragneel and his cat_!"

Natsu Dragneel grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Looks like you guys found her first. But no matter, I'm gonna be the one to kick her ass and bring her in. I can already taste that three million Jewel. Oh boy am I fired up now!" As if to emphasis his point his knuckles caught on fire.

"Aye sir!" His cat cried, looking down at the two girls with a grin. Lavender appeared to be going into a sensory overload. It didn't improve when a male voice shouted from behind the rise of the hill.

"Hey wait up ya pyro!"

And a feminine one added, "Natsu don't fly away again."

Three more figures joined the four on the hill. A shirtless guy Rory vaguely remembered, a fair blonde girl she sort of remembered and a demon she definitely remembered, their eyes meeting each other immediately. Lavender sucked in a huge rasping breath as if she was being denied air. "Gray Fullbuster! Lucy Heartfilia! Oh my Zentopia _Titania Queen of the Fairies Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail_!"

Shit.

Dread and fear was beginning to sink in now. She instinively pulled Lavender back again, eyes still locked with Titania's. "Okay they definitely do _not _ like me."

Titania's eyes narrowed in on Rory, her sword pointing down at them imperiously. "Duchess you have been cornered. We have placed magical barriers around the area and you will not be able to portal away. You should save yourself the trouble and come quietly!"

Rosemary's response (which was to curse her violently in Midian) was interrupted however by a cry of horses and the sound of a whip that cracked through the air. A carriage came flying out of nowhere into the field, taking out half the hedge with them as the horses vaulted over the barrier. The cart swung round, toppling onto two wheels momentarily and was pulled to a stop on the hill. Behind the reins sat Ichiya Kotobuki.

(As the general unspoken laws of the universe decree, things in life will only ever go from bad to worse and the universe is, in fact, out to get you so it was only natural at that moment for the Blue Pegasus wizard to crash through a hedge and onto the scene from quite literally nowhere. It's a matter of science.)

"~Finally I have tracked the smell of your parfum and it mixes with the sweet scent of the lady Titania. Stay away scoundrel! I will not let you corrupt her scent any more. _Men_!~"He somersaulted down on to the grass, short stubby arms outstretched and on point. The door to the carriage burst open, with three young suited men climbing out.

"Excellent tracking skills lord Ichiya!"

"We are in awe of your excellence!"

(Again, their appearance is due to science.)

This apparently was the final straw for a lot of people. Lavender, with a squeal of hormonal euphoria, looked like she'd died and gone to Zentopia. Titania's stern demeanour broke and with a shudder running down her spine, she violently kicked Ichiya in the face as he tried to approach her and Rory stared horror-struck at the gathering and then looked at the sky as if to say _ARE YOU_ _KIDDING_ _ME?_

Did she break a mirror and wasn't aware of it? No one could be this unlucky. Eleven wizards on her family farm and all she had to defend herself was her staff with a hyperventilating teenager and a frying pan. This had to be the worst day ever.

" _Best. Day. Ever_!" Lavender managed, her lisp more prominent with excitement. She couldn't have seemed more like a school girl right then if she tried, in her pleated skirt, frumpy blue jumper, shirt and tie. She pushed her glasses up her nose, looking about ready to get down on her knees in worship. "Are you guys, like, here for Rory? This has gotta be the greatest birthday present ever! I know I said I wanted to meet the Trimens, sis, but you didn't have to go and get two of Fairy Tail's strongest wizarding teams as well!"

"It was no problem." Rory mumbled weakly.

"I am, like, your biggest fan!" Lavender cried up at the surprised wizards. "I read all about you guys in sorcerer weekly! Oh my Zentopia I can't believe I got to meet you all in person! I'm Lavender! The girls at school are _never_ going to believe this! Can I get your autographs?"

The wizards blinked down at them, taken aback by Lavender's enthusiasm. The blonde girl, Heartfilia was the first to speak, eyebrows raised suspiciously. "Is this some kind of tactic to throw us off or something?"

"Hhm," The guy with the long green hair deliberated, cupped his chin, "it appears the purple companion is nothing more than a harmless school girl, however appearances can be deceiving. I recall the word 'sis' being used, is it possible we have stumbled across our target in her familial environment?"

Rory did not like the sound of that word 'target' . She glanced at Lavender and then pushed her slowly behind her so she was partially blocked from the wizards. She raised her stick threateningly, searching nervously about for, well she wasn't quite sure what. She couldn't portal, she couldn't run but she couldn't get captured either.

"So this is your real face Duchess." Hibiki called, a beautiful sadistic smile across his face. "Or should I say, _Rory_?"

Rory gulped, behind her Lavender clutched on to her shoulders and whispered in awe " _Hibiki Lates knows who you are_!"

"'Know' is such a strong word." Rory managed back meekly.

Up on the hill, the shirtless guy called Gray turned to the suited Trimens. "Hey back off Blue Pegasus! Fairy Tail's got this one."

"Yeah we already have to split the reward with the stupid Thunder God Tribe." Heartfilia added. "I'm not losing any more rent money!"

"Without the Thunder God Tribe and Freed's barrier you would never have been able to trap her!" The woman in green with fairy wings bristled angrily back at the blond.

"~We have been tracking this girl's scent for the past week. If anyone should get the reward it shall be us _men_ ~" argued Ichiya, pirouetting back from where Titania had kicked him.

Wide eyed, Lavender hissed "Rosemary, Fairy Tail and Blue Pegasus are fighting over you."

"That's not a good thing Lav!" Rory admonished, struggling to keep the panic out of her voice. "They are here to capture me not give autographs!" Lavender gulped audibly and Rory saw her go tense out of the corner of her eye.

"Surrender now Duchess!" Titania shouted. "This need not come to bloodshed!"

"Says the one waving the sword." Rory yelled back, her eyes glancing from wizard to wizard, never keeping still. "Eleven to two doesn't seem that fair a fight. Who'd'a thought you legal guilds played dirty?" If this was the worst day of her life, then Rory had no intention of making any easier for the wizards.

"Who says we're all going to fight?" Grinned Salamander, cracking his knuckles. "I can take down the two all by myself. You're coming with us North!"

Lavender drew up beside her, having apparently finally grasped the gravity of the situation. "No one is taking my sister anywhere!" She called, brown skin flushing as she glared at Salamander. Rory felt a rush of affection as Lavender raised her frying pan against her idols and dream future husbands. She matched her little sister's stance, staff raised protectively, her other hand slid down the heel of her boot where she withdrew her dagger. The North sisters stood shoulder to shoulder, waiting.

Lavender spared her sister a glance and upturned her nose in a mixture of disgust and embarrassment.

"Seriously? You're bringing a bread knife and a stick to a magic fight?"

" _You're bringing a frying pan_!"

Lavender blew a random curl off her forehead. "Frying pans reflect concentrated magical energy, _duh_." She rolled her eyes. "Zentopia, did you ever listen to Grandma?"

They glared at each other, gaze broken only by the musings of the green guy, who by process of elimination must be Freed. "Interesting. Despite knowing her magic is rendered useless by my barrier and is staggeringly outnumbered, our little friends still insist on fighting."

"Well if they insist." A sadistic look flashed across Salamander's handsome face. He grinned, his fire burning higher and hotter."We can hardly deny them a fight!"

At the sight of the fire dragon's flames, Rory's bravado left her again. She'd gotten a face full of that fire a couple of weeks ago, and had no intention of feeling it again. She was back to where she started, terrified and out of ideas. Salamander began to walk forward saying "don't worry guys I got this one" when the air suddenly went dry and white and just when Rosemary thought it couldn't get any fucking worse.

" _Moonblast!_ "

Beyond the rise of the hill and behind the wizards, shimming white light came out of the sky like meteors and bombarded them, encasing the wizards in a pearly white explosion that left white noise ringing in their ears. The magic faded slowly, the light ebbing away into the atmosphere and the wizards lay dazed and spread-eagled on the grass. All of them had been thrown off their feet and momentarily blinded. Even the cat had lost its wings and was mumbling in confusion on the ground.

Appearing over the break of the hill and stepping calmly over their bodies came an all too familiar woman. Beautiful and white, Tsuki Lua's long light blue hair blew slightly in the wind, the hem of her matching dress and white shawl ruffling around her. Rory had known Tsuki for what seemed like her entire life. The woman was adopted family in a sense. Her grandmother's apprentice, Tsuki had a rare gift for clairvoyance in dalliance with the moon. To Rory, all she ever seemed to do was give cryptic, vaguely accurate (only accurate because they're so cryptic!) predictions which apparently she received by studying the moon.

"There is no need to fight." Tsuki Lua said serenely, standing between the wizards and Rory and Lavender. Her voice washed over them, soothing and calm. The wizards stumbled back to their feet, dazed and even more confused at the appearance of the third woman. Rory just narrowed her eyes on her back, teeth grinding.

"Whatever quarrel you have with Rosemary there is no need to resort to violence." Tsuki told them, apparently opting to ignore how she had just blasted them off their feet. "Here on the Flatlands we like to resolve our conflict in much more peaceful manners. We have a hot pot bubbling in a kitchen and enough places for all who visit our humble little farm. Please," she added as the wizard stared at her in bemusement, "would you like to stay for dinner?"

Lavender, unable to help herself, yelled; "would you like to stay forever?" before Rory clamped a hand over her mouth.

"What are you doing Lua?" She hissed.

"Saving you from a hopeless situation." Tsuki snapped back with a glance over her shoulder. "I came as soon as I could; the moon warned me you were in danger."

Rory blinked at her. "It's broad fucking daylight."

Tsuki ignored her. Salamander finished shaking the ringing out his ears and pounced forward shouting "Now _thats_ more like it! Three on one I'm all fired up!" And indeed he was, all fired up, as his literally ignited himself and yelled " _Fire Dragon Roar!"_ And let out a whirlwind of swirling fire in their direction. Apparently dinner was not a conceivable option to him.

Rory could tell by Tsuki's recoiling body posture that the moon had not warned her to wear her fireproofs today. She swore under her breath, dropped her knife, lunged forward, dragged Tsuki back by her hair and threw up a portal, solidifying it just in time as Salamander's flames swirled against its blue walls. She felt the heat from his spell seep through her barrier. She stood, feet apart her staff held horizontally in front of her as if it were supporting her portal. The Fairy Tail wizards stared at this new development in confusion whilst Blue Pegasus seemed partly amazed and partly smug on Hibiki's account.

"A mage." He breathed, slowly grinning. "I knew it."

Rory suddenly remembered this was the first time they were witnessing her magic. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew Kohl was going to kill her for revealing her magic to _another_ legal guild but the bewildered looks from the Fairies made it slightly worth it.

"Yo Freed I thought she couldn't use portal anymore!" The knight guy called Bickslow with the floating dolls heads and waggling tongue proclaimed, and his friend in the cocktail dress frowned.

"She shouldn't be able to block Natsu's attack!" The woman exclaimed.

Rory couldn't help but keep the satisfied smirk off her face as her eye caught Titania's. She winked. Titania fumed. "What?" Rory goaded. "You didn't think this was going to be easy did you?"

"It appears my barrier only stops her from opening the portal gate." Freed mused, hand on chin, frowning. "She is still perfectly capable of manifesting her magic into a physical form."

"~The parfum of your magic is a familiar one! We shall not forget it again. _Men_!~"

Ren scoffed and turned his body to the side, posing as he said "A powerful portal mage. I find that rather attractive in a women. Well if you're in to that sort of thing."

" _Stop flirting with the target_!" scolded Heartfilia from the other side of the hill.

Ren gave her a hard look and flicked his hair. "Jealousy does not become you Miss Lucy."

Salamander was gazing at Rory and the portal, a calculating look on his face. The idea of that guy actually thinking was just as terrifying as his fire. Rory wasn't even sure if he was hearing any his comrades conversation. He was close enough to give the wall a tap. It didn't make sound, but Rory felt its reverberations, the motion rippling through her portal. In retrospect she was pretty sure this wasn't what the spell was supposed to be used for. But as soon as she discovered she could summon closed gate, _solid_ portals, really what else was she going to do other than use it to create impromptu emergency shields. After all the best part of magic was learning to think outside the box with it. Portal was technically just one spell, but after years of using it Rory had created loads of different variations and uses for the singular magic.

"So it's a shield." Salamander surmised, gleefully. "Guess I'll just have to break it down." And he began punching the portal with fiery fists, looking like the was having the time of his life.

"Finally something to do!" Cried shirtless Gray. " _Ice make Canon!_ " A huge white, snowy barrel appeared over his shoulder as he sank down to one knee, one eye closing as he took aim. "Hey move out the way flame brain!" And Rory braced for impact.

Behind her Lavender appeared to have gone back into fan girl mode now the immediate threat of her sister's abduction was moderately quelled. Rory didn't dare spare a look behind her as Lavender simpered pathetically but she just knew the sound had something to do with the way Gray's abs clenched every time he fired an ice canon ball at her portal. With battle cry roar, Titania changed armour and leapt against the blue wall, attacking it with a sword that was double her height.

"Don't think you can out show me up Titania!" Fairy cocktail dress woman cried, pushing up her glasses. " _Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!_ "

The all too familiar cries of " _Aerial Blast!_ " and " _White Fang!_ " joined the mix and Bickslow began arranging his weird floating doll things into a spinning formation, the green magical blast growing between them. Ichiya popped the cork off a purple vial, the Freed bloke drew his sword. Hibiki was typing furiously into his archive magic and Rory had the sinking feeling that he was probably uploading this to his database and analysing her portal which was probably going to be a very bad thing at a later date and Heartfilia drew a golden Key shouting "I want in on that action! _Open Gate of the Scorpion; Scorpio!_ "

In the onslaught of eleven different types of magic Rory decided this just wasn't her day. Lavender was apparently torn between euphoric fan and fearful younger sister and was switching between the two faster than a lacrima vision change over. Apparently, to Rory's satisfaction is wasn't Heartfilia's day either, as her key failed to produce.

Heartfilia stared in confusion at the space in front of her key where her celestial spirit should have materialised. Instead she received a wall full of Freed's code. "Hey what's going on?" She cried, key still thrust out into the air. " _Open Gate of the Scorpion; Scorpio!_ " Nothing happened.

"It appears your celestial gates work the same way as portal gates." Hibiki told her, the screen of his archive magic analysing Freed's barrier, which just too far away for Rory to read. "With Freed's barrier keeping the gates closed you can't summon any of your spirits."

"You mean I can't open a celestial gate?" Lucy repeatedly dumbly, the concept evidently not sinking in.

Rory couldn't help but shout "Sucks doesn't it?" up at the blonde and received a dirty look in return.

"So Rosemary," Tsuki started almost conversationally behind her, "is there a reason why there are eleven legal guild wizards on our farm trying to arrest you?"

"Not that I'm totally complaining." Lavender added.

Rory grimaced as the wizards sent another wave of attacks against the portal. Her arms were beginning to ache from being held aloft. And from the fact she was being attacked by eleven different forms of magic. "What did the moon not tell you Tsuks?" She sneered.

Tsuki gave out a withered, tired sigh. "What did you do Rosemary?"

"Why does everyone assume I did something?" Rory cried angrily. She didn't like the condescending note in Tsuki's tone. Like Rory was the young child who'd gotten into trouble _again_.

"Whatever you did do you wanna do it again on my birthday?"

" _Shut up Lavender_." Rory and Tsuki both snapped at the same time. Rory looked round to glare at Tsuki, no longer paying attention to Fairy Tail and Blue Pegasus. "I raided a dead guy for his dagger for Bosco and now his cult following have sent out a three million Jewel bounty for my capture, happy?"

Whatever Tsuki was, Rory never found out as a loud howl rose from behind them. Out of the Redwoods. And Rory swore for a second her heart stopped. Her eyes were still on Tsuki's and she watched the sound register on her face and her blue eyes fill with terror. Tsuki's expression mirrored her own. There was no denying that Rory had heard the howl. And that it was close.

The wizards drew back from their attacks, looking to the trees.

"The hell was that?" Asked shirtless Gray.

Titania frowned. "Local wildlife?" She guessed.

Even as they spoke, the answering howls rose up from the trees; a symphony of death to Rory's ears. She closed her eyes to the sound, as it sent chills down her spine. A couple of seconds ago her body had been pumping with adrenaline, blood in her ears and heart impersonating the beat of an Encan war drum. Now every was still and quiet. She could still only hear the rush of her blood and the exhale of her breathe but it was colder now. Her mind was numb and clear. Amazing how much a mood can be changed in a split second.

"B-but it's still daylight." She heard Lavender say, confusion mixing with fear. "It's still daylight."

"It must be increase in magical energy." Rory sensed rather than heard Tsuki move to stand between Lavender and Redwood. They were surrounded on both sides now. "These wizards are drawing them out." She heard Tsuki explain. Rory opened her eyes, looking clearly ahead at the wizards who had gone still. They must be sensing something was wrong. Salamander was sniffing the air, his muscles tensing up.

"Lavender go back to the farm house."

The order left no room for discussion. Rory didn't look back at her sister, to the Redwoods as she spoke her eyes finding Titania's again and stayed there.

"But-"

"Your sister's right Lavender. " Tsuki said, facing the treeline. "Go back to the farmhouse."

Lavender whirled between her two sisters. The real one and honorary one. Her frying pan was limp at her side. "I can't leave you!"

"Lavender, mother is alone at the house right now." Rory tried to keep the fear from her voice. "Go _now_. Go back, run straight there and barricade the doors. Get mum and go down to the basement."

"But what about you guys? What about Fen?" Lavender cried.

"Fennel has the dog with him. He'll be fine." Tsuki replied firmly. If Lavender picked up on how she hadn't fully answered her she didn't say.

Another howl rose up from the woods.

" _Lavender go now!_ " Rory barked, panic etching her words." _Run!_ "

"How can I?" Lavender shouted back, gesturing at the portal and the wizards behind it, blocking the way back.

Titania was still gripping her sword, but it longer felt like it was pointed fully at her. "What's going on Duchess?" She asked, as her fellow guild members shifted subconsciously backwards. Away from the woods. Rory ignored how the Blue Pegasus men were trying to comfort Lucy. And how she shrugged them away. She ignored the blue cat that was talking insistently into Salamander's ear. How Bickslow brought his dolls in front of him, forming a line of defence in front of him and the Thunder God Tribe.

She looked Titania dead in the eye and pleaded with the enemy. "Please, let her pass Titania. She's just a child, she's not involved in any of this, let her go." There was a pause as what felt like a thousand words passed through their one look. "She's just a child." Rory repeated. Then Titania nodded and stepped back and Rory felt relief flood through her so she barely heard as Tsuki spoke to her sister.

"-Keep running and don't look back. Lock down every window and get your mother."

Lavender drew up beside Rory, her gaze flicking uncertainly from the woods to the wizards to Tsuki to Rory and back to the Redwoods. Rory was just about to snap at her again for lingering too long when Lavender swooped down and picked up her dagger, clutching it tightly in one hand.

"Here," She said, handing over her frying pan to Rory, shifting awkwardly, "it's better than a bread knife."

Then Lavender ran.

Her tiny form passed seamlessly through Rory's portal sending a ripple effect across the surface that a minute ago had been impenetrable to the wizards. The wizards parted slightly as she passed them. She looked even move like a child when next to them. Lavender sped past them then faltered, turning on whim, looking back one last time. Her afro purple hair bounced around her head, falling out of her bunches. Rory knew the look she was giving her. The _when am I going to see my sister again_ look. Lavender decided against saying anything however because really what could be said? Lavender broke in to a flat out sprint and disappeared over the crest of the hill.

Rory felt some of the tension in her shoulders ease somewhat. Tsuki moved behind her till the stood back to back, Rory with her staff and frying pan, staring down the wizards, Tsuki with her eyes on the woods.

"Now what?" Rory said, grimly watching the wizards as they consulted between themselves, arguing and shouting. Complete idiots. Did they not realise how much danger they were in?

"I take it not being caught by those lot is part of the ideal plan?" Tsuki replied stiffly.

"It's a preference."

Another series of howls came from the woods. Alarmingly louder. "We're too close to the house." Tsuki muttered. "You need to draw them away from the land."

"And how do I do that?" Rory bristled, not liking how it was 'you' and not 'we'.

Tsuki shifted closer, she could feel the heat from her body at her back. "You do what you do best." She said calmly. "You run."

It was a loaded statement. Rory hated it but didn't have time to argue. "If I run I won't be able to keep up the portal." She warned. "They'll chase after me."

"That's the point. You'll get a head start, I'll hold them off as long as possible." Tsuki promised. Rory craned her round, looking at Tsuki's long blue hair until she too turned and met Rory's eye. "I'll hold them off but then it will be up to you."

She shook her head ."I can't fight the wolves and the wizards." She argued softly.

Tsuki's eyes were as steely as hers as she said "Then don't let it come to a fight."

Rory felt her throat go thick. It wasn't emotion, not quite. She and Tsuki weren't _friends._ More like allies. Veterans. One thing was certain, Rory thought, she wasn't going to make Lavender's birthday this year. It would be up to Tsuki to fill in the role of older sister. To play Rory's part in the North household. As she had already been doing. Rory couldn't help but resent her for it. Like Tsuki resented her for leaving. But they were grateful to each other for it too. And so, they were allies. And even though Tsuki was quite literally throwing her to the wolves, there was something in the look that passed between them. It was enough.

Rory bolted for the tree line before it got mushy.

There were shouts behind her as the wizards tried to follow only to hit her portal. Tsuki turned to face them, not watching Rory go, a sad, bitter smile playing at her lips as if she'd known all along Rory was going to leave again. She was right about another thing too; Rory _was_ good at running. Her ratty, mud stained trainers took her flying across the ground, hat bouncing on the back of her head. Rory may have been short, and if in all honestly not very athletically built, but her legs were made to run.

She hit the tree line in a matter of minutes, her portal only fading away only after she was out of sight.

* * *

Dun Dun Duhhh. Sort of.

Ah so many wizards all at once. Plus two new characters! I hope you guys like Tsuki and Lavender. (The moon predicts you will.) Altho Lavender talkth kind of like thith, only i don't write her that way cause then it will get annoying. Rather like writing Raven's accent. Dae ye gie me?

Hope I captured all the different characters okay and that you enjoyed. Till next time.


	5. The Woods

Chapter five of Okator Arc: The woods.

* * *

It was just not Lucy Hearfilia's day.

Firstly her morning had started off watching Natsu hurl out his breakfast on the train to the Loire. Lucy was torn between pity and mild disgust as she watched his egg fried rice fly out the window. She was also pretty annoyed because she'd just _bought_ him that breakfast and he knew they were getting a train so why Natsu had eaten anything was beyond her. It was a waste of money. Of _her_ money.

And then when they got to the Loire and found the Thunder God tribe waiting on the platform and Lucy realised her cut of the reward was going to even smaller, she wasn't happy. What was three million split between eight anyway? Still probably a lot. More than a lot. Lucy never understood why Happy always insisted on a share as well. He lived with Natsu. Why didn't he just share with him?

Of course, Lucy knew that Freed and his _Dark Écriture_ was probably the only way they were ever going to trap the thief Rory North. But she didn't understand why Bickslow and Evergreen had to come along as well! Lucy knew she was only being crabby because she was late on rent and needed money quick. In all honesty it had been the Thunder God Tribe who tracked North to the Flatlands, so they should get a share. And three million split was still going to be a lot. More than a lot.

So they'd split up round the city with pictures of Rory North's face that Reedus had drawn and public places with her friends were always testing. The Flatland's sun was hot and heavy, but there were rain clouds brewing on the distance. The only saving grace of the trip was the town itself, _well_ -for the record Lucy loved Magnolia, she really did- but the Loire seemed to be _alive_. The city was home to two of Fiore's largest non-magical organisations; the Farmer's Guild (a nationwide association with its main head quarters out on the Flatlands) and the Performer's guild. And everywhere you looked, there seemed to be some sort of reference to them.

There were street artists at every turn, painting the walls and chalking the floor. On each street corner there was some sort of busker so that no matter where Lucy went there was always music. The farmer's markets in the Loire were the best in Fiore and the river meant there were foreign trade stalls wherever Lucy looked and she finally understood why the Loire was named the Culture Capitol of the Kingdom. Bohemian life oozed off every building and walkway and it was all Lucy could do to stay concentrated on the mission and not wander off into an art gallery or book shop.

It was within the farmer's market after hours of wandering the city that they finally found a source. An old, gap toothed woman selling blue bee honey at a golden stall took on glance at the plain face in Gray's hand and grinned.

"Oh aye we know her. " She waved a mottled hand. "She's tha' big city girl. Don' she her much round these parts any more, do we Earl?" She turned to an old man at her side, probably her husband.

"Arh." Agreed Earl.

The beekeeper nodded at Rory's picture."You'll find her over by Carmelia Village if she's around. " She carried on conspiratorially, looking pointedly at them, as if expecting them to know intricacies of country gossip. "Usually you see her durin the harvest festival down in the village you do. Always buys some honey she does, but apart from tha' I dunno much, only tha' she works up in the city like. Always back for the festival, oh and Yule of course, though now tha' I think about it, maybe she ain't been to the church these few years."

"What else can you tell us about her? Why does she only come back for Harvest? What are her ties to the area?" Erza asked immediately.

The women didn't seem daunted by Erza's forceful tone in fact her grin split even wider. Out of the plethora of things they learned over the next ten minutes (none of which was about Rosemary North), the come away really was old women from the Flatlands were as nosy as they were gossipy. The beekeeper didn't really know much about Rory apart from that she's sometimes seen around the out lying villages, but that didn't stop the old woman talking their ears off about other things round the village with the occasional grunt from her husband. They eventually thanked the bee keeper and Earl, bought some of their blue bee honey and set off for a taxi cart to take them to the Outskirts of Camellia village to the Old Barn Farm. Natsu wanted to walk. They out voted him.

So once again Lucy found herself sat in a moving vehicle with Natsu's strawberry pink head groaning in her lap. She absentmindedly stroked his hair, watching as Erza stared thoughtfully out the window.

They met Freed and the other's at the village, spent a tidy amount of time following Natsu around with his nose in the air. He caught her scent near one of the outlying farms and Freed began writing runes, creating a barrier stretching all the way down and beyond to Redwood. It was a stroke of luck really that they's stumbled across her hide out in the Flatlands, odd that it was a split up across the farmland, it was universally agreed that literally turning up on the doorstep and knocking on the front door for her was not a good idea just in case the farmers were in on North's hide out and rest was history.

Lucy now stood on the grassy hilltop looking down on Rory North and her remaining companion through the blue glaze of her portal. She clutched Scorpio's celestial key uselessly in her hand.

"I don't understand how her shield was able to withstand all out attacks" Gray was saying, though Lucy wasn't properly listening.

"That's because it's _not a shield_." Hibiki was repeating for the fourth time in frustration. Her companions bickering all became background noise. She heard them all but barely took notice.

Lucy couldn't summon her spirits. Freed's barrier stopped them from passing through the gate, just like it stopped Rory North from opening her portal gates. She had no idea celestial magic and portal magic was so similar. She had no idea Freed's _Dark_ _Écriture_ could render her own magic so useless. At least Rory North could still summon up a portal manifestation, even if she couldn't go anywhere with it.

"...you can't break it down because it's a _portal._ A regular, closed gate portal Natsu! It's not something brute force..."

Something was wrong. Really terribly wrong. Lucy could see it in the eyes and stances of Rory and her beautiful blue companion.

There had been howling from the woods. And in a second all three girls behind the portal had become terrified. They'd told the girl Lavender to run. They'd sent her home.

"...I thought your magic stopped her from using her portal..."

"...My instructions were to keep the magical gates closed so she couldn't escape..."

"...Don't blame Freed! How was he supposed to know she could still use her portal!.."

Lucy watched as Rory North clenched and unclenched her jaw, searching her and the other wizards but not really seeing them. She couldn't hear what she and her companion were whispering about.

They'd told the child to run.

They'd told her to go home and barricade the door.

Another series of howls rose up from the high red trees on the horizon. Something wasn't right. The sound sent shivers down her spine but that wasn't what made Lucy feel uneasy. It was the fact that as soon as they'd heard the long, hair-raising cry, Rory North looked terrified.

Lucy may not know the girl very well, but she got the feeling that if Tombraider, Duchess of the Thieves Guild, Rosemary North the 'big city girl' was scared, then the rest of them should be shitting themselves. Lucy watched as Rory turned round to her partner.

"Something's wrong." Lucy whispered.

Nobody heard her.

" _Guys something is wrong_!" She shouted, recognising the new found panic in her own voice.

Then Rory North bolted for the tree line, running towards the sound that had petrified her and away from them.

Natsu and Gray both dived forward at the same time, shouting and slammed into the portal-shield-that-apparently-wasn't-a-shield-but-just-a-regular-portal at the same time. Their face squished against its blue surface like it was made of glass, and squeaked with friction as they slid down it. Swearing they banged and kicked against the portal as if their fists could do more than their spells could.

With one final thump on the portal Natsu shouted "HAPPY!" and Happy sprang into action, automatically knowing what to do. The cat swooped in catching Natsu at the back of his clothes, flying him upwards.

 _He's trying to fly over the portal_ , Lucy thought. It was actually kind of...smart.

Erza evidently thought so too as she shouted to the Thunder God tribe "Freed, Evergreen, Bickslow run to the side see how far it stretches! Lucy, Gray you take the other-"

" _Moonblast!_ "

For a second time bright white orbs came raining from the sky. Happy and Natsu swerved dangerously in the air, missing the first hit but then got caught by another. When the light faded Lucy saw that Freed, Evergreen and Bickslow managed to avoid being hit as Freed stood sword in the air whilst the purple lettering of his shield faded away.

They all looked at the woman who had sent the spell. Behind her the figure of Rory disappeared entirely amongst the trees and the portal fell away between them but none of them moved. It was obvious if they did, they'd just get knocked off their feet again by her spell. Natsu staggered to his feet, a completely wiped out Happy in his arms. He shook his head, as if trying to get the ringing sensation out of his ears.

The woman opposing them was beautiful. Cream skinned and with light blue hair she had a serene almost know-it-all quality about her. A thought suddenly occurred to Lucy. There were twelve of them and only one of her, and yet the woman didn't seem afraid at all. It was like the numbers didn't bother her. She stood watching them, waiting. That was probably the most disconcerting thing about her.

Ichiya stepped forward. "Go." He said solemnly and they all turned to look at him in surprise. "If you run now you may still catch the thief. My _men_ and I shall hold her off." Ichiya pushed up his sleeves, and Lucy felt a rush of, well not affection but she and Blue Pegasus had been through a lot, to see the camaraderie in practice like this made her happy.

The Trimens smirked as they fell in behind Ichiya, battle ready. "Don't think we're doing this for you Fairy Tail." Ren warned, a cool breeze starting to whip around him.

Eve began calling up a small blizzard. "Yeah this is only because of Lord Ichiya's girlfriend."

Lucy couldn't help but smile as they dragged Erza away from the Trimens before she could hurt them as she roared " _I'm not his girlfriend_!" She caught Hibiki's eye and he gave her a nod. It was enough. Then he and his guild mates started firing at the woman. They took their chance and made a break for it after the thief as Blue Pegasus sent a wave of attacks at the woman, keeping her busy so they could pass without being 'moonblasted' off their feet. It was all the woman could do to avoid being hit by them. As it were they managed to slip by without fear of being hit by her spell and broke out onto open ground.

" _Wait!_ "

Lucy looked back over her shoulder and saw the woman had whirled round, a strand of blue hair caught in her mouth. At that moment she didn't seem to care that she had just left herself open to more attacks from Blue Pegasus who pulled back for a second, waiting.

The woman called after them in her serene, commanding voice. "If you enter those woods, the moon can't predict your safety." She looked each of them in the eye as she finished "and neither Rory nor I will be responsible for your fate. A dark presence exists in those woods. Be cautious. You've been warned."

The words sent a chill down Lucy's spine and she thought of the howls.

They'd told Lavender to run.

Her guild mates brazen hearts held no place for such fears and they ran on to the tree line, grim and determined, but not afraid.

"Thanks Blue Pegasus." Gray yelled over his shoulder. "We owe you one!"

Though Lucy was starting to feel Blue Pegasus hadn't drawn the short end of the stick. The Redwoods loomed ahead of her, the high, heavy trees casting the space in darkness. But then she shook her fears from her mind. She was a member of Fairy Tail. She had her guild mates with her. There was nothing to worry about. She was panicking for nothing.

* * *

Rory was panicking. Leaves and foliage slashed her across the face as she navigated through the dense woodland. Only a week before she'd been running for her life in these same woods from Blue Pegasus. Now she was running from Fairy Tail. At least they had the decency to not change the weather.

Tsuki said the increase of magical energy caused by the wizards had lured the wolves out of their dens deep in the heart of Redwood. Rory was supposed to be luring the wolves away from the farm, so she sent waves of magical energy pulses through the woods at random intervals, like her Grandma had taught her to. It was pretty much the magical equivalent of a signal flare, with each pulse she was practically shouting _'look at me! Here I am! Come eat me!'_ But what else could she do? It was also brilliantly tiring. Behind her she could hear the ruckus of her chasers entering the forest.

Crap.

It seemed Tsuki hadn't held them for long. Ducking into the hollow of a fallen tree, Rory took a second to catch her breath. She pulled up a small portal in her hand (still unable to open the gate) and whispered "show me."

The blue disc brought up an image of Tsuki in battle with Blue Pegasus. Rory watched as Tsuki dived to the side, dodging an ice attack from Eve only to shine a blast of purely light in his eyes, blinding him. Ren jumped forward and sent an air attack towards her and the spell cut off and Tsuki called up another _moonblast_ to rain down on them. Rory changed the image to one of Titania and the rest of Fairy Tail running through the woods.

Crap. Crap.

She tried to open portal gate so she could hear what they were saying, but was met with code again. As she watched the guy Freed began writing with his sword, a block of purple code appeared in the air around him whilst the rest of Fairy Tail split off, searching for her.

Rory had to keep moving. She ran slower this time, careful not leave a trail. Her ears were constantly straining for a sign of the wolves or for the sound of one of the fairies catching up. She sent out another pulse of energy leading both wolves and fairies alike further into the woods. It was stupid from a not getting caught point of view, but what choice did she have?

There was a loud snap behind her and Rory put on a burst of speed. She looked over her shoulder as she ran and slammed into something hard and moving. Her feet became tangled and she fell forward on to the person, dragging them down whilst managing to whack herself on the head with Lavender's frying pan during the fall.

Rory and Lucy Heartfilia lay in a crumpled heap on the floor, groaning. Rory suddenly became very aware of the fact that she was lying face first in Heartfilia's cleavage and immediately jumped backwards, staggering to her feet.

"Hey watch where you're running." She snapped down at the sprawled blonder girl, her forehead pounding from where it had connected with the frying pan.

" _You_ ran into me!" Heartfilia accused, getting to her feet. Rory became acutely aware of how short her skirt was. And how low cut her top was. And how generally pretty she was.

 _Shit. Focus Rosemary._ Now is not the time for drooling. Rory snapped back to attention, and looked round the clearing they were in. They were fairly far into Redwood now, but not as deep as Rory would like to be. The farm was still relatively close by, she knew because she recognised a bush close to them that was sprouting Gaia berries. Growing up, whenever Rory had to enter the woods, she'd always been told never to stray from the path and to go further than the Gaia berry bushes. As if the evil and dark creatures that lurked in the heart of Redwood refused to cross some proverbial line into the plants territory, rendering all creatures beyond that certain point safe.

But of course that was entirely false. They weren't safe at that moment. The wolves had crossed the line, Gaia berries or no Gaia berries. Rory began stumbling backwards, getting her bearings; ready to run again. Heartfilia was no threat, the girl couldn't use her keys with Freed's barrier up. And the longer Rory stayed still, the easier she would be to find.

"Do yourself a favour." She said to Heartfilia, "get out of these woods while you can. _Run_."

And she ran off again. Or at least she tried to.

Something warm and buzzing wrapped round her ankle, yanking her back and Rory was sent crashing to the floor again, this time throwing the frying pan out of heads reach. Turning over she noticed a long blue whip wrapped around her leg, being held by a smirking Heartfilia.

"Oh no you don't." Lucy Heartfilia warned. "You're not going anywhere."

Rory stared at her. She was becoming increasingly uncomfortable by the amount of the time they'd spent in one place. And there were two of them. Two wizards together was double the stationary beacon of _'come on I'm here! Come eat us!' ._ She began tugging on the end of the whip wrapped round her ankle, trying to undo it. It was like no whip Rory had ever seen, long, pulsing and blue. Evidently a magical item. "Let me go Heartfilia!" She snapped failing to undo the tie.

"Not a chance, North." Lucy replied smugly. Did she not realise how much danger they were both in right now? Could she not sense the tension amongst the trees, that something was wrong?

"Oh and you're really going to try and fight me without your magic are you?" Rory asked, eyebrows raised. "Your celestial spirits can't protect you out here Fairy. Run while you can."

Anger flashed across Lucy's face and she retorted "Contrary to popular belief, _Tombraider_ , I can fight and protect myself without my spirits. They're my friends not my servants. They fight with me, not for me. And at the moment I reckon I can take you out right now without their help." And as she stood there, whip in hand, legs apart with her knee high boots, mini skirt and top with breast support that was inappropriate for the amount of physical excursion she was doing, which she probably did not give a shit about it, Rory believed her.

But then a twig snapped in the bush right next to them and Rory was on her feet, yanking on the whip and pulling Heartfilia to her. She reached out her staff, slipping it round Heartfilia's waist and used it to tug her closer over the remaining distance, jumping between Heartfilia and the bush, keeping the blonde pinned at her back and held the frying pan out threateningly. It all happened so fast, that Lucy Heartfilia barely managed to protest till she was pressed up against Rory. Had this been another, less life threatening moment, Rory might have been proud of how smooth she'd been. Although granted, she doubted Lucy Heartfilia was the kind of girl who would appreciate the action.

Behind her, Lucy mimicked Rory's tense attitude as the bush rustled ominously. There was second pause of silence where they waited with baited-breath. Rory's frying pan quavered. The rustling grew louder and out from the foliage hopped a small, white, furry rabbit. With the cutest pair of floppy ears.

In her ear, Heartfilia whispered "Be careful, it can probably smell fear."

Rory gritted her teeth, lowering her frying pan and brought her arm back from where she was pinning Lucy behind her. She refused to look round, knowing she'd gone red. Then without warning, a huge, demonic, grisly wolf leapt out of the bush and snatched up the rabbit with one chomp, spraying blood and bones everywhere. It was nearly as tall as Rory, its fur matted, and its eyes black and smoking with a dark magical aura. Blood covered its snout and the rabbits spine hung limp out of its mouth, sticking out of it's ripped furry neck.

Lucy out a high-pitched scream. Barely a second in she was cut off by Rory who dumped the frying pan in her arms and tugged her forcefully backwards till the two of them were sprinting full pelt through the trees. Behind them the wolf, let out a loud clear howl that was answered by its pack in the trees around them. They ran for their lives and for the first time ever Rory wish Titania was here.

" _What the hell is that thing_!" Lucy screamed.

"The reason why I told you to fucking run!" Rory yelled back. The wolf was on their tails. It could catch up with them if they wanted, but instead it hung back, stalking them. Rounding them up. It liked to play with it's food. "We need to get off the ground!"

She saw the perfect tree up a head, its branches just low enough to reach. Rory practically threw Lucy in front of her, shoving her up the tree by her ass and legs. Lucy scrambled to get a footing, hauling herself up onto the lower branches, using the whip and frying pan like grappling hooks. She swung round ready to help Rory up, stretching the frying pan down for Rory to grab onto. But then her brown eyes went wide and at the last second she let go, Rory caught the pan by the handle and instinctively whirled it round, whacking the demon wolf that had launched itself at her in the face.

It staggered to the side then jumped at her again and Rory mashed her staff into its mouth till the carving of the fox-like creature hit the back of the wolf's throat and the creature could go no further. She then hit it again on the head with the frying pan. Continuously. Lavender was right, this was so much more useful than a knife.

Above her Lucy shrieked " _Look out_!"

When someone tells you to 'look out' the amateur mistake most people make is look round. This wastes precious time. Rory knew this and so on Lucy's shout she immediately dropped to the floor instead, just in time as a second wolf flew over her.

The first wolf spat her staff out of its mouth and snarl above her. Rory rolled backwards onto her feet, kicking it in the throat as she went. She straightened up and stumbled away till her back was pressed against the tree, stick and cooking implement raised ready. Several pairs of black glistening eyes met her back in amongst the trees. Rory counted at least seven wolves, all hanging back, watching as the two in front of her shook their heads and growled. She didn't even have the time to panic.

The demon on the left pounced first. Rory fell under the weight of it, staff horizontal in defence and the wolf bit down on it inches from her face, its spit dripping down onto her. She kick it in the gut and launched it off her and to the side, rolling up, spinning round and walloping the second wolf on the head with the pan, then diving to the side as a third wolf join the mix.

These creatures, Rory knew from experience, were too thick skinned for blades, too dense to be hurt by any blunt object. No matter how much she swung back and hurled at them she was merely playing defence, keeping their fanged canines out of reach. Their jaws were strong enough to rip chunks out of the trees, Rory had no interest in seeing what they'd make of her arm or her skull.

She dodged another biting attack. The ground was a whirl of flying fur, fangs, a stick and pan. She spun round bashing a forth wolf with her staff but this time the creature bit down and hung on. Unable to yank it from its grip, she fought one handed with the pan, waving off the circling pack. But her right side was left open and weaponless. She noticed out of the corner of her eye a mass of fur soaring towards her and get yanked back.

Glancing back, Rory saw the wolf restrained against the tree, Lucy's whip wrapped round it's throat and holding it back. For a second Rory locked eyes with the Fairy Tail wizard. Lucy gave her a grim smile and a nod, her eyes flashing with determination. Rory decided right then and there that she liked Lucy Heartfilia.

But then the wolf with its teeth sunk into her staff tugged sharply and Rory fell forward. She heard Lucy scream her name as she disappeared amongst the sea of riving legs and snouts. It was at that moment Rory remembered she knew more than one type of magic. She called up bind, casting out the spell towards the wolves around her, seeking out their wills. She found darkness, magical aura without a purpose, and when she met their will, she found a solid wall.

Pure fear rose up through her. These were not wolves. They were pure magical manifestations of darkness. The more Rory searched through them she was sure of it. They'd always referred to the creatures as demon wolves. A wolf pack gone wrong. But there was no biology about them. She tried to bind their blood and found none. Their muscles were not a creation of anatomy.

 _They're unbindable._ She thought with horror _._ Rory was certain of it. She wasn't sure what was worse; the idea of someone taking a perfectly good wolf pack and mutating them, or the fact that someone literally created these creatures out of nothing. And that they had full control over them.

A jaw sunk into her shoulder, teeth piercing through muscle. Rory screamed.

Magic had created them. Only magic could destroy them. Rory released her magical energy in one sharp full blast. She sent wave after wave of raw, primitive power over them, causing them to back away, with trembling howls. The wolf on her shoulder let go and Rory rose up, her aura transcending onto the demons. She buzzed through them, frazzling their minds, leaving behind the magical white noise of power overload. And she was screaming at them. Her voice was hoarse and guttural as she shrieked her wordless battle cry until the wolves were gone, her voice was finished and she had no magical energy left. Her vision began to blur, her head pounding. Never had she let out so much power in one go before. She stumbled backwards and in to a pair waiting arms.

Lucy Heartfilia gently lowered her to the floor, her eyes filled with fear and concern. Rory wondered what she was afraid for. The wolves were gone now. Lucy's warm hand was on her shoulder, trying to stem the blood from the fanged punctures in her skin.

Out in the trees there was a bellow of " _LUCY!_ " and Rory remembered thinking _oh no, not this idiot._ Natsu Dragneel leapt in to the clearing, looking round in wild concern still he saw Lucy, with Rory in his arms. For a second his composure sagged with relief, but then his face split into a wide grin. "Hey you caught the criminal! And without your spirits! Way to go Luce!"

"No!" Lucy cried in panic, looking down at Rory as if begging her to understand. "No! It's not- I didn't-"

Rory wondered why she looked like that. It's not like Lucy was betraying her. She set out to capture Rory and that's what she'd done. Rory wondered why she now looked so upset. Other figures came crashing through the forest. There were more voices, more shouts but Lucy remained speechless above Rory, her eyes swimming with some unknown emotion.

Her face was the last thing Rory saw before exhaustion took her, her lip glossed mouth forming a soundless apology then darkness.

* * *

The night was dark and starless, the moon hanging behind a singular distant cloud. Lavender North stared dumbly out the kitchen window, fiddling with a bone knife in her hands. At the kitchen table behind her sat four suited men with ice packs and bandages. Men who Lavender had at least four posters of on her bedroom wall. She couldn't care less anymore.

The air was thick with rich aromatic spices and apprehension as Tsuki lifted the pot of bubbling stew and rested it on the table, looking sadly after the young teen. Her shoulders were stiff, and she looked worn and tired. There was a gash on her cheek but that only the only sign she'd been fighting.

"This smells delicious." Ichiya announced, breaking the loaded silence. His short arm was in a sling and he had a blanket wrapped round his shoulders. "It is so kind of you to offer food and shelter for me and my _men_."

Tsuki smiled down at them tiredly. "Our fight was merely a formality, Mr Kotobuki. Whatever quarrel you have with Rosemary we ask you do not involve us again. Now let us make peace with this dinner. The moon tells me Blue Pegasus will always be welcome at our table." And she began to serve them ladles of the stew.

The silence stretched again, as the wounded Trimens began slurping at their hot southern strew, their eyes watching everything around them, the home of the girl who three hours ago they'd hunted and tracked like game. You could cut the tension with a knife.

Which is exactly what Lavender North did when she suddenly flicked her knife across the room and it sunk heavily into the door with a dull _thud_. Lavender finally looked round at the room. "She's not coming back is she." She said to Tsuki, her voice dull, like she'd asked this before. "She's not going to be back for my birthday."

Tsuki paused before she turned to Lavender, taking a second to compose her face, the Trimens watching it all. "I'm sure your sister is fine, Lavender. The moon foretells-"

"That's not what I asked." Lavender interrupted. "I know Rory is okay. But even if she managed to out run both Fairy Tail and the wolves, she won't come home, will she?"

Tsuki sunk down into a chair at the table, neck stiff. "You know she will, Lavender." She finally sighed. "No matter how much time your sister spends running, you know she will come back eventually. _She always comes back_. Just a little late sometimes is all." For a second Tsuki looked frustrated, her voice going resentful.

Lavender nodded, but she didn't look fully reassured. Slowly she joined them at the table, taking a seat next to Ren but barely looking at him. Her hand reached out across the table, shaking slightly and she slid one the magazines that were scattered there in front of him.

"Can I have your autograph please." She barely whispered whilst in the next room her mother, Amora North began singing under her breathe as she stared at the blank wall, creaking back and forth on her rocking chair. " _Lavenders blue, dilly dilly, rosemary green; When I am king, dilly dilly, you shall be queen_." She nibbled half heartedly on a piece of fruit until finally her head lolled sideways and her singing and rocking ceased.

* * *

The lull of the trains sluggish motion pulled Rory into sleep. The sound of Salamander, Natsu Dragneel throwing up violently out of the window next to her ear, pulled her out again. Rory fought down the sensations of her gag reflex as Salamander lost his dinner, her nose wrinkling. She was curled up in the compartments corner, furthest away from the door. They'd bandaged her shoulder, and it ached under the wrappings, feeling overly-hot and itchy.

She'd pulled down the top of her floppy beanie so half of her face was covered in a delusion of sleep. Through the gaps in the green knitting however she could still she the occupants of the train department.

Opposite her sat Titania, arms crossed and scowling. Her head was leaned back against the head rest and her eyes were closed, but Rory doubted she was asleep. She noticed how Titania's face twitched slightly each time Salamander gave another wretch. Next to Rory sat the semi-naked Gray Fullbuster, the ice-make mage. He'd lost his blue shirt two stations ago but nobody seemed bothered about telling him. A chain necklace rested on his torso, a sword with a stone rested in it. He sat, slouching in his seat, legs apart and arms crossed, staring at the ceiling of the moving train car. It would probably be the position she'd be in, if her hands weren't currently shackled. The green wizard Freed had placed his magic barrier on the cuffs to, so she was unable to open any portal gates meaning she couldn't escape.

With one final gag, Salamander staggered away from the window and slumped next to Titania opposite her. His face was set in a painful grimace and with a soft gurgle he curled up on the bench and placed his spiky pink head on Titania's lap. Rory shouldn't have been surprised at the show of intimacy. Of course the fairies were all close to each other. None of Salamander's team mates were making a big deal of his motion sickness either, which lead Rory to believe it was a common occurrence. It was kind of reassuring actually. Rory had been there in the aftermath when Salamander had completely destroyed Hargeon Harbour. She seen firsthand what that bloke's magic could do, so it was oddly reassuring to know that he had a weakness. And that weakness involved any form of transportation.

Curled up in the opposite corner by the door was Lucy Heartfilia. Her arms were wrapped around her legs with her dainty chin resting on the tops of her knees. Rory knew she was feeling guilty, it was written all over her face. Rory helped save her from the wolves and Lucy returned the favour with shackles and a six hour train ride through the night across the kingdom. In truth, Rory didn't feel bitter or betrayed at all, Lucy was just doing her job. It was interesting to see her feel bad though. Rory wondered if Lucy now thought the two of them were comrades or something now that they'd survived demonic black magic in the shape of wolves together. It seemed like the gullible, naive thought a fairy would have.

The only one really talking was the blue winged cat. Which was a sentence Rory did not say lightly. Of course he was technically an exceed and had nothing to do with the domestic house cat or large felines, but it was kind of universally agreed within Fiore that Exceeds were cats. Flying, talking cats that wore clothes and had taken up residence in a forest to the south. This one was currently calculating how much fish he was going to buy with his share of Rory's three million Jewel reward. Firstly, Rory didn't even understand why the cat got an equal share in the first place as it had done literally nothing, and secondly, his math was completely wrong.

"And then if we take away the Thunder God Tribes portion the we get one million and eight hundred and fifty five thousand and then if we divide that into five we get...three hundred and twenty thousand? No that can't be right..."

It wasn't right. Was it bad she was getting touchy over the fact the cat was planning to spend _her_ reward on fish too? Was she really becoming possessive over her own bounty? If the cat got a share, shouldn't she get some too? She'd sacrificed her freedom to save their friend. Where was her reward?

"Don't forget Blue Pegasus's share." Titania spoke up for the first time.

"What!" Happy cried in dismay. "We're sharing with them too? But then we won't get any money!"

"Blue Pegasus has also been hunting Duchess and they found her at the same time as us." Titania argued calmly whilst gently stroking Natsu's hair. "And they stayed behind to fight the moon priestess allowing us to pursue Duchess into Redwood. It's only fair they get their share."

"So we should give them what? Thirty percent?" Happy asked shadily.

Titania peeked open one eye and looked pointedly at the cat."They get equal share to the rest of us." She ordered and Happy sighed unhappily.

"Aye sir." He stared wistfully at his notepad and ripped out a page of sums, crumpling it up and throwing it on the floor. He looked dejectedly at his fresh page. "What's three million divided into twelve?"

"Two hundred and fifty thousand Jewel." Rory replied immediately before she could stop herself. The carriage seemed surprised that she spoken, all but Salamander looked round at her, Rory wasn't even sure if he was conscious anymore. With a sigh, Rory lifted her shackled hands and pushed the brim of her hat to the top of her forehead, uncaring about what her fringe must look like. "Three million Jewel split evenly between twelve people is approximately two hundred and fifty thousand Jewel each. One good quality medium sized cod fresh from the coast is around seven hundred Jewel so you'll get about three hundred and fifty seven pieces of decent fish. _What_?" She asked defensively. "It's basic maths."

Gray was giving her a weird look. "No it's not. _I_ couldn't do that off the top of my head."

Rory shrugged uncomfortably. "Yeah well, once upon a time I studied Magical Engineering and Quantum Dimensional Anatomy at Crocus University. Trust me, compared to some of my classes, that maths is basic."

Lucy looked up at her with keen interest, her brown eyes searching. "You were a student?" She asked curiously. Rory just nodded in return. She wasn't sure what had come over her to suddenly reveal that snippet of information about herself. She supposed it probably didn't matter, seeing as she was about to be handed over to possibly cannibalistic cultists in a couple of hours. It was nice to know some people in her profession knew she was smart.

"Can I ask," Gray began, his head turned to the side and looking down at her, "how did you go from small village farm girl to University student studying MEQDA to Thieves Guild protégée?"

Rory brought up her knees, slipping them up between her bound arms. "That's a very good question." She said to the window. She could see Titania watching her in the reflection of the glass. Outside it began to rain.

The train chugged on through the night, taking them further across the land, closer towards Okator's cultist. At some point they dimmed the lights in the carriage, a sign that it was time to sleep. Rory watched the black landscape go by, illuminated by the moon, ignoring the pain in her shoulder and the look she'd seen on Titania's face. She wasn't interested in her rivals pity. Under her breath she hummed her mother's lullaby to herself until the train succeeded in sending her to sleep.

* * *

Aaaaand Done! Merry Christmas guys. There is a Disney reference somewhere in this chapter, can you find it?

Till next time.


	6. The Cult

Chapter Six The Cult

* * *

Sweat dripped down off Lucy's forehead. The mid-summer sun was high in the afternoon sky and was bearing down on her neck and shoulders like it was being focused through a magnifying glass. The old dusty mountain path they were hiking up never seemed to end, there was always one extra twist, another ravine, more bends in the road. In front of her, Natsu had tied his scarf round his hips and removed his skirt and she knew somewhere behind her Gray wasn't anymore decent.

None of them talked as they hiked, each lost in their own thoughts. The only sound was the constant squeaking of Erza's cart which was laden high with suitcases all strapped down. Chained to the back of the cart and stumbling along behind it was Rory North. Her top was stained a new colour of brown with sweat, the bandages on her shoulder could be seen through the stretched, loose collar. She'd removed her hat and tucked it in the hem of her gym shorts and had pulled up her sleeves somehow. Her arms were bound in front of her and she was being tugged along by carriage so Lucy wasn't quite sure how she'd made the adjustments to her wardrobe. Like the rest of them, Rory North said nothing during their journey up into the rocky mountains. Ever since they'd gotten off the train that morning she'd been entirely silent.

All Lucy could think about was how Rory saved her, and how now she was repaying her shackles. The image of Rory fighting was forever emblazoned into her mind. For the millionth time her brain took her back to that moment in the tree when Rory had looked round at her. For a fleeting second they'd locked eyes, then one of the wolves pounced and sunk its teeth into her shoulder. Lucy winced and shook the image from her mind. She still felt shivers every time she remembered Rory's magic washing over her, the scream, the pure power. Lucy had never experienced someone letting out their magical energy like that before. Like the magic energy itself was a weapon. She intended to ask Makarov about it when they returned.

"Hey Lucy what you looking at?"

Lucy jumped at Happy's sing song voice, flushed, and quickly looked away from where she'd been gorming out at Natsu's back. "It nothing Happy." She said, thankful that the heavy sun and heat excused her blush. "I'm just thinking is all."

Happy caught her tone, the teasing falling from his face and he glanced back at the squeaking wagon. "Did she really save your life Lucy?" He ask, flying alongside her.

Suddenly her mind was back in the tree again. Jaws sank into Rosemary North's shoulder. She fell out of sight, screaming. They'd told Lavender to run. Blood dripping off huge snouts, black soulless eyes. The howls that would haunt her nightmares.

"Yeah." Lucy nodded. "Yeah she did."

When night fell it was like all the heat had been sucked out of the air into the black abyssal sky. Rory shivered against the cool night air. Her bare calves were covered in goose bumps; her black leggings only reached her knees. The Flatland summers often fluctuated between the idyllically mild and hellfire's frying pan. Rosemary's 'home clothes' often catered for both. If it got too hot she could remove her leggings and just wear her loose gym shorts. Her long sleeved top was thin with a collar that often nearly slipped off her shoulder, but if the sun got too much her sports bra underneath would always serve as a suitable top. However up here on the mountain she easily felt the chill of the cloudless night. Only her green floppy hat kept her head warm.

"Here." Rosemary looked up gratefully as Lucy sat down beside her and handed over a bowl of food. "We used your frying pan to cook it, is that okay?" She nodded. It was rather awkward trying to hold the bowl and eat from it with bound hands. In the end Lucy set in on the floor in front of her and watched as Rory slowly devoured the food. Around the campfire the others sat, Titania watching Lucy and Rory over her own bowl, her gaze brooding.

"It's kind of cold back here." Lucy began hesitantly. "You can always come closer to the fire." Rosemary brought the bowl up to her lips and slurped loudly. Lucy carried on, unperturbed. "You know, I never really thanked you for yesterday, back in the woods-"

"Don't mention it." Rory muttered.

"No really I truly appreciate-"

"I said it's okay."

"What you did-"

"You're stilling mentioning it."

"That thing you with the magic and the screaming-"

"This is sounding like a mention."

Lucy huffed. "I'm trying to _thank_ you."

"And I'm trying to stop you." Rory snapped back more forcefully than she intended. Lucy's large brown eyes widened. Rory sighed and wondered why they were even talking. "Where I come from there is a heavy price for owing your life to someone like me." She explained quietly, looking down at her empty bowl. "Trust me Fairy, it's not something you should be thankful for." _The thieves Guild always collects its debts._

"Are you.." Lucy looked uncertain."Are you protecting me? Again?"

Rory didn't know how to answer. Yes, she guessed she was. But was it really that noble if the thing she was protecting Lucy from was herself? Secrets and Favours. Lucy owed her a favour. She owed Rory her life. It's how the lore went. It'd been the code Rory had lived by for the past four years though it felt like her entire life. Lucy Heartfilia owed Rory a debt, yet Rory had no interest in collecting it.

Silence lapsed between them. Eventually they both ended up looking at the stars. The small bright lights seemed even more distant tonight, if possible and they haplessly dotted the night sky like an afterthought marked in by a careless artist. Looking at them made Rory feel even colder. Tomorrow they would probably reach the cult. Rory had never been to this part of Fiore but this mountain range was full of spring valleys that sourced many rivers across the Kingdom. The land was self-sustainable and far from any form of civilisation; perfect for a cult. One problem bugged at the back Rory's mind however. If nobody had ever heard of Okator and his cult then that meant these people weren't interested in integrating with the locals. Or their economy. And if they spent all their lives hidden away up in the middle of nowhere mountain range, then where the hell did a reclusive unheard of cult get three million Jewel from? Rosemary had been in her guild long enough to know a stitch up when she saw one. But was she ever going to tell Titania that? Hell no. Even if that meant possibly being set free?

Rory had gotten to thinking earlier as she'd been deliriously pulled along under the scorching sun behind the wagon. This cult was probably not going to stop till it got her. So what was the harm in going along with. When Titania and the others hand her over to the cult tomorrow then the 'reward' will be down and her life could go back to only being hunted by the state and the odd slighted bounty hunter. Also admittedly Rosemary was a little bit curious. She wanted to know what these cultists looked like alright? And if they happened to be cannibalistic then Raven would just save her like usual. So really as it turned out, being captured by Fairy Tail was sort of a win/win situation for both parties, disregarding Rosemary's rising scrutiny into the actual status of the cults vaults of course. For in which case it would be more of a singular solid win for Rory and a empty handed, charitable win (for goodness is its own reward) for Fairy Tail.

The only thing that really put a damper on the situation was her shoulder. It really hurt. But the really worrying thing was that didn't hurt _enough_. Because, Rory figured, if you're going to get bitten by a demonic physical manifestation of objectively pure evil magical energy then that's got to be somewhere up in the nine point somethings on the _painful crap that's happened to me_ scale. But as if were, this dull, aching, feverish pain that was ebbing from her shoulder was actually pretty tame. Rory had seen the results of black magic on human body in her tombs. For starters, she wasn't dead. Nor was she dying. She didn't appear to be in the process of transforming into a wolf (something you've got to be quite careful about when it comes to canine wounds- Lycanphropy is rather like the STD of the underworld. Not even one of the good ones, more like the embarrassing cousin you have that no one wants around at family meetings.) And she didn't appear to have any magical mutations. It was as if she just had a normal ordinary bite wound. Only those were not ordinary wolves.

Hence why she was slightly panicking inside. All she needed was this whole ordeal to be over and done with so she could get back to Crocus and get Doc to have a look at whatever was under the bandages.

Scuffling over by the campfire brought Rory back to reality. Next to her Lucy jumped to her feet and Rory watched as Fullbuster and Salamander did the same by the fire. Wait a minute, Rosemary thought, where's Titania?

There was as shout from around the corner and Rory could recognise that unintelligible northern gibberish anywhere. Titania appeared back into the small ravine where they'd set up camp, dragging a green cloaked figure with orange hair, a hooked nose, and black military boots.

"Found her snooping round the mountainside." Titania declared throwing Raven down to the floor next to Rory. So much for Raven saving her arse in case the cultists were cannibals. "I knew your little sidekick would be following us Duchess. Where ever you go, Nightingale is sure to follow."

"How smart of you to foil our plan." Rory deadpanned as next to her Raven spluttered indignantly.

" _Sidekick_?"

"Wait she's been out there the whole time?" Fullbuster cried as Titania began manacling Raven's pale bony wrists.

"She's been following us since the train station." Titania informed them.

"Seriously?"

Rory wondered why Lucy even looked surprised. Like _hello? Thieves Guild?_

"What took you so long?" Rory asked as Raven slumped moodily back against the wagon next to her, evidently put out at being caught. She no longer had a bow or her utility belt and it didn't look like she'd even bothered to cast an illusion over herself. Rosemary wondered what that meant.

Raven gave her a dirty look. "Oh hallo Raven, long time no see, how kind of you to come and rescue me." Her northern brogue failed entirely in imitating Rory's Flatlander drawl. Rory raised an eyebrow at the swipe. Well two could play at that game.

"Ach it's nae problem Dutch, nae much ay a bludy rescue when ye gie doon tae it thocht." Rory shot back. "Guess aam jist blinkin' useless arenae lassie?"

Raven looked severely unimpressed. "I do not sound like that."

"Ah dinnae soond loch 'at ." Rory mimicked childishly.

Their bickering was interrupted by Titania's sword point, hovering devilishly close to Raven's face. Her pale blue eyes went cross eyed trying to keep the end in view. "Are there any more of you out there?" Titania boomed. Raven gulped.

"No?" It sounded more like a question. Titania narrowed her eyes and her sword drew closer. Raven leaned so far back she nearly on top of the wagon.

"I will ask one last time. Are there any more you out there?"

There was a small clattering sound and a few pebbles slide down the rock wall above them. Rory's eyes snapped up and looked searchingly out into the shadows.

"If by 'ye' ye mean 'me' then _no_ cause I'm right here."

Rory strained her ears, there was a slight scampering sound above. It's probably just an animal, she told herself. But in the shadows on the far side of the camp she could have sworn there was something there. By the fire Salamander had gone very still. He sniffed the air inquisitively.

"No one's out there! I'm the only backup Duchess has okay!"

"What is it Natsu?" Asked the cat through his fish. Lucy turned and watched the Salamander, no longer taking interest in the interrogation.

Salamander frowned. "People."

Behind them Raven winced as Titania's sword finally made contact at a point between her eyes. "Okay so maybe there's a back up back up as well, but I swear-"

Gray stood next to Salamander, whose hands had subconsciously caught fire. "How many?"

Rory tried desperately to catch Raven's eye so she could silently convey whatever the hell the plan was and who was out there, but Raven's eyes were too busy going cross eyed over the sword to notice. Salamander turned in a full circle, looking up at the rock walls surrounding them. "I don't know. They've moved out of the wind. It's hard to tell what's new scent and what's the old."

"Old scent?" Rory piped up, frowning at him.

Salamander looked round. "This whole valley smells of people. I thought it was kinda weird since there's no one about."

Lucy looked at him incredulously. " _And you didn't tell us?_ " It was hard to tell if she was actually angry or just exasperated.

"Well maybe this is a trade route or something." Gray suggested.

To Raven's relief Titania sheaved her sword and joined her comrades by the fire, frowning. "The roads aren't on any official map. We're only here following the instruction left on the reward poster to find the rendezvous point, but officially this place hasn't been cartographed."

Gray shrugged offhandedly. "Then it's a smuggler route."

"It's not." Both Rory and Raven chorused. When everyone looked round at them questioningly, Raven pointed between them with an explanatory "Thieves Guild."

"We know all the smuggler routes." Rory elaborated. "Even the unofficial ones."

"Pretty nifty short cuts some of them."

"These mountains haven't been active for hundreds of years now." Rory continued. "Officially and unofficially on all channels. So what does _that_ tell you Titania?" Another scrabble of pebbles came clattering down on the other side of the canyon and Rory felt her magical aura tingle. She and Titania locked eyes, both coming to the same conclusion at the same time. They were not alone.

A high pitch whistled sounded above them and the canyon was flooded with light. Huge grappling chains rained down from the rocks ahead. One wrapped itself around Titania's sword but she batted it away like it was a fly. Happy leapt to his feet, wings springing out of nowhere. He flew upwards and hit his head on the top of a tiny cage that fell on top of him, one of his wings getting trapped between the bars and the ground. Natsu yelled and ran for him, but two chains caught him round the arm. He twisted them wrapping the metal round his forearms then pulled, his biceps flexing as above them figures scrambled for footing against the rock in the shadows. He threw back his head and let out a roar of fire that trembled the ravine in a way only dragon fire can.

Gray dove to the side, dodging a grapple whilst turning an oncoming cage into ice then shattering it. A huge humanoid cow in blue y-fronts with a massive double edged axe was happily chipping away at a chain that caught Heartfilia's ankle, presumably one of her celestial spirits. Rory and Raven staggered to their feet, using the wagon for support with their bound hands. Rory jumped aside as more restraints flew at her. Raven was not fast enough and a grapple hit her on the head and she immediately crumpled back to the floor. Rory threw up a physical portal and sheltered Raven's body and the wagon as Titania brought down half the mountain wall as she dragged their attackers down into the ravine from above.

The figures were covered head to toe in brownish robes, camouflaging them against the rock and were no match for Titania in her new armour and hammer. A grapple attached itself on to Rory's shackles and she was yanked face first across the rock floor towards the other side of the canyon. Her foot hooked on Gray's ankle as she slid past, momentarily stopping her movement whilst he fired ice arrows at the cloaked figures Titania threw at him. The other end of the chain pulled harder and Rory's arms and upper body was nearly lifted off the ground. Gray had clamped his legs shut around her ankle, stopping her from moving forward. Right next to her face, was Happy still trapped under his cage. His wings had vanished but he now appeared to weak to lift the cage off of him.

There was a loud _moooo_ and Heartfilia's cow came crashing into them, flattening Gray on top of her. The bone crushing weight caught her off guard and her concentration fell; on the other side of the camp her portal diminished and Raven and the wagon were buried under the rock fall. The cow disappeared with a dazed pop but Gray was still on top of her and the force at the end of the chain tugged again and Rory was pulled out from underneath him. He grabbed hold of her foot at the last moment yanking her back and Happy, whose cage had been knocked over by the cow, took hold of Gray's shoulders, flying furiously backwards. The tug of war was momentarily in stale mate, then with looks of alarm, Rosemary, Gray and Happy began to slide precariously forward.

Above them, Titania was flying about one side the ravine in winged armour, smashing at their attackers with her giant hammer. On the other side, Salamander was scaling the wall and was sending balls of fire up at the assailants from his mouth. Lucy was on her knees and furiously digging away at the rubble that covered Raven, a maid-like celestial spirit standing above her, defending away any on coming chains with chains of her own. They could hear every time the spirit defended her mistress as the flying chains made sharp clanging sounds every time they connected like ringing swords.

Rosemary, Gray and Happy were dragged forward another inch at a snail's pace. Gray swore and Rory conversationally swore back. A small metal can flew out of the shadows from where Rory's chain protruded, smacked her in the face, bounced on Gray's head and hit Happy full in the chest. He fell backwards out of the air and green gas began to steam out around them. More cans rained down from above them, filling the floor with thick green smoke and Rory felt herself go dizzy. One can landed in Salamander's mouth and he crunched down on it. For a moment nothing happened. Then his eyes began to water and he chocked, the green gas spilling from his mouth, nose and ears. Salamander let go the rock wall clutching his throat and fell out of sight.

Titania screamed in fury as she looked down at the ravine floor and saw her party unconscious and covered in the vile green sleeping gas. Masked figures jumped at her from the rock walls. piling on her and weighing her down, stuffing the foul green stuff into her face until her eyes burned and she began to black out. Erza Scarlet crashed unconscious next to her fallen allies on the ravine floor.

* * *

For the second day straight Rosemary awoke tied up. She groaned and the first thing she noticed is they'd removed her shoes, her bare toes wiggled in the coolish air. The second was that her shoulder felt like it was on fire, it was incredibly hot. She was no longer wearing her hat but her fringe stuck to her forehead with sweat, as did her shirt.

Through her heavy headache and feverish gaze she noticed she was still bound by Fairy Tail's magical shackles, rendering her still portal less. Only this time, her arms were behind her back and she was chained to a wooden post. The ground was rough with rocks and earth like the ravine. She sat in a brown circular tent with a high triangular roof, all around her the others were also chained to posts. They sat in a semi-circle with their legs stretched and bound in front of them, footless and chained to one master post in the middle of the tent, that sat before the entrance flap. Hanging above the post from the ceiling was Happy slumped on his side in a cage.

Pitifully Rory tried to summon a portal, any portal, open or closed, solid or clear. Nothing happened. She groaned pathetically, her head rolling back against her post.

"It's no use Dutch." Came a familiar voice to the left of her. "The whole tents been enchanted. No magic can be used in side of it, otherwise Salamander would have burned us out an hour ago."

Rory stared blearily at the people around her. Fairy Tail sat chained around her, groggy and annoyed. Salamander appeared to be straining himself against his shackles, looking mildly constipated as he tried to summon up his magic. "When did you all wake up?"

A new voice answered haughtily. "Everyone came too about seventy five minutes ago. We've been waiting for you to wake up now. That must be some nasty wound you got on your shoulder, Duchess, you look a tad feverish."

Rory knew she must be feverish because that could not have been Doc's sneer she just heard. But even as she lifted her head, there was Doc bound to a post opposite her and next to Salamander. They'd taken her doctors coat and stethoscope so now she sat only in her tight green cocktail dress, her bare feet with blue painted toenails wiggling in the air. Her navy head scarf was gone from around her head and instead drooped around her neck like a neckerchief or gag she'd shaken free of. Even after apparently spending the night tied up in a tent, Doc's dark moss hair was still sleek and shiny and held in a perfect bun.

Doc smiled at Rory's bleary scrutiny and nodded at her from across the tent. "Good morning, sleep well?"

"The hell you doing here?"

Titania sniffed from the centre of the tent. "She was Nightingale's back up." She said stiffly.

Rory blinked incomprehensively and lolled her head to the side to look at Raven. "You brought Doc as your back up?" She asked slowly, making sure to get the words right.

"Obviously."

Rosemary frowned. "Isn't she a pacifist?"

Raven shifted uncomfortably against the floor. Without her cloak and boots she was in nothing but her black corset, blood red jeans and thick fluffy pink socks. "So? Got somethin against her religion do ye? What's wrong with Jeeorye?"

"Jiori." Half the tent corrected her flatly.

Rory stared at Raven. "I was captured by four combat trained wizards, one of which is S Class, another a bloody _dragon slayer_ , and your plan to save me from them and or the potentially cannibalistic cultist they planned to hand me over to was to come in unarmed _with a pacifist_?"

"I wasna unarmed!" Raven cried indignantly. "I had me bow till Titania snapped it in half and threw it into the canyon."

"I'm not apologising for that." Titania muttered lazily.

"So you came with a bow and the guilds only pacifist." Rory summarised. "Literally the only person who not be no good in a fight. Thanks for that input, Raven, you've been a great help."

"I came with the guilds only healer." Raven snapped back. "Which seems to be a good thing since ye look like if ye weren't already sittin' down ye'd've collapsed by now!"

Rory couldn't help but admit to herself that Raven did have a point. There was only one problem, one which Happy quickly pointed out.

"Yeah she's really being a great help sitting over there on the other side of the tent." Happy said dryly from his cage. "Tied up. Like the rest of us."

"Shut it fur ball." Raven snarled.

Lucy stared sceptically between the three of them. "So this is the infamous thieves guild. You guys are supposed to be legends! Raven Nightingale and Tombraider Duchess of the Thieves Guild, a rich amongst rags, no tomb she can't get into and no cell she can't get out of!"

"This isn't exactly a cell, love." Rory reminded her bluntly. It felt kind of weird being referred to in such a manner, she was hardly legend, she felt. What was even weirder was that Lucy seemed almost disappointed.

"Also notice how the fancy titles apply only to Duchess, and not Raven. Hence why _she's_ the backup." Doc added spitefully.

Raven glared at her through her curtain of orange hair. "Well ye're back up back up so ye can't talk."

"At least I didn't mess up the plan and get caught by a Fairy when we were supposed to be keeping our distance and observing!"

"Ye still got caught though!"

"So did you! And there is only one me and I'm a pacifist and there are six of you. Seven if you're counting the cat!"

From his cage Happy declared "We're counting the cat."

Gray thudded his head against his pole and groaned in agony. "Can't you two go five minutes without bickering? You're doing my head in."

"Well now you know how the rest of us feel when you and Natsu go at it." Lucy shot at him. Gray retorted at the same time as Raven and the tent became awash with arguing voices. Rory winced as her headache got more painful.

" _Enough!_ " Titania roared and silence fell immediately. "Arguing amongst ourselves is not going to help the situation. And Nastu stop that," she added to the dragon slayer, "The tents enchanted you can't use magic in here, stop trying and save your energy."

Salamander slumped in exhaustion against his pole. He'd been straining against it since Rory woke up, his face screwed up in concentration. "Why can't I use my fire!" He yelled in frustration. "This is horrible! I'm a powerful dragon slayer _I will not be defeated by a tent_!"

"We'll get out of here soon enough." Lucy soothed reassuringly, "then you can burn this entire place to the ground." It sounded like a wonderful idea to Rory, and it seemed to work on Salamander too as he relaxed against his bindings.

"There's one problem with that though Lucy," Happy said above them."We have no way of getting out."

"There's always a way out." Rory said immediately on instinct. When they all looked at her she shrugged. "It's true."

"How would you escape then?" Lucy asked.

Titania narrowed her eyes. "Duchess has certain proficiency for getting out of sticky situations as I seem to recall. It would be wonderful if you could call upon those talents at the moment."

"Anything to please you dear." Rory replied tiredly. She looked around the tent, blinking sweat out of her eyes. The ache in her shoulder was not going away but thankfully the longer she stayed away her headache seemed to null. "Well first of all we need to take into account everything we know."

"We're tied up in a tent and we can't access our magic."

Rory ignored Gray's heavy sarcasm and looked at Raven. "Your plan was to stay distant and observe wasn't it? What did you observe then before Titania caught you?"

Immediately Raven began list, "Area's full of small ravines and canyons like the one ye were in. There's a river runnin to the north, there is vegetation there and plenty on the south side too."

"And the cult?"

"Only known civilisation in the mountain range Dutch." Raven replied, her voice grave. "We don't know much about them either, they're on no records, yer bounty is the first time they've interacted with the outside world. "

Titania shook her head. "Well that can't be true cause otherwise they wouldn't have known to set Duchess's bounty. And if the river is up north then we must be near it."

Rory found herself nodding along to Titania's logic. Doc was as well. "We are." She confirmed. "They didn't set sleeping gas on me like they did with you lot. I didn't resist so they just blind folded me and I remember hearing a river."

Lucy turned to Salamander. "Natsu what can you smell?"

"People." Salamander replied simply. "I can hear them too. If there is a camp we're a little way off from it but someone's cooking pork and its killing me inside, I'm so hungry Luce. They've put _seasoning_ on it and it's slow roasting and I bet the fire cooking it tastes great too." His mouth began watering at the far off scent none of them could smell.

Gray raised an eyebrow. "Right. Well now we 'know everything' how do we get out of here?"

"No idea."

Gray stared at her. "Aren't you supposed to be some sort of professional at getting out of these situations?" He accused. "How you thieves guild people ever escape anywhere I have no idea, all you do it fight amongst yourselves!"

Rory glared at him. "Well usually I can use my portal." She shot back defensively.

Raven nodded along. "Yeah and even when she can't, I keep explosive black powder in me tool belt. Ye'd be surprised what ye can blow through with that stuff. Pity Titania got rid of it along with me bow." She glared pointedly at the other red head. Titania opened her mouth to retort but was quickly cut off.

"And what do you do when you can't portal or explode your way out of a situation?" Lucy prompted quickly, dispelling the brewing the argument between Titania and Raven.

"There's actually only a few situations where portal and blowing stuff up doesn't work." Rory told her.

Happy stuck his head out of the bars of his cage. "Well this is one of those situations so what else you got?"

Rory sighed. "Run?" She hedged.

"Yeah, let me just finish stretching my muscles." Gray replied snarkily, whilst pointedly jiggling his legs causing the chains on the main pole in front of them to rattle.

"Sometimes we flirt our way out?" Doc tried.

Lucy laughed."Tsch! Yeah lets all just giggle and blush for our imaginary guards!"

" _Well_ , this one time," Raven began thoughtfully, "we tied Dutch up in a ball and stuffed her down me top and pretended I was heavily pregnant and goin into labour so they had to let us go in case there were difficulties with the delivery cause we were too rural for a caesarean. "

"It didn't work." Rory informed them after a pause, sounding severely unimpressed.

"Not one of our better plans." Doc agreed admittedly.

Suddenly Salamander stiffened. "They're coming." He said.

Moments later Rory's human hearing caught the sound of voices too. Shadows moved up alongside the tent, stretching upwards like giants. Two shadows came and stood guard either side of the tent.

"Keep your mouths shut and do what they say." She instructed them quickly and quietly. "Be good long enough and they'll let at least one of us out of our shackles, when that happens and if they seem hostile scream bloody murder and free the rest of us. If this is the cult then they only want me but keep your wits about you all the same, they might-"

The tent flap lifted and she cut off. The a voice from outside called out in a sharp unknown language and the figure drew back. They saw his shadow straighten up and turn round to the foreign voices. They all sat on edge, ears straining to hear what was happening out side.

Doc took the brief opportunity to hiss precariously from across the tent "Does anyone else get the feeling something really bad is going to happen?"

"Only every time ye open yer mouth." Raven muttered, unable to resist taunting her back. Both Gray and Erza shushed them.

"Be quiet." Erza instructed.

Raven shifted against her bindings and spared a glance at Rory. "Well if anything bad is goin to happen it will be cause of this rubbish plan. 'Be good and maybe they'll let us go' Since when has that ever worked around cults? Need I remind ye Dutch about Highwester Mountain?"

Rory frowned, the memory of the snow capped peak exploding around her jumping to the front of her mind. "Shut up Raven, at least my backup plan isn't bring the bloody pacifist."

"You don't even have a backup plan!" Raven accused.

"Heartfilia could flirty with them."

Lucy snarled against her chains and hissed at her "Yeah that's not happening North."

Erza shushed them all again, her brown eyes glaring at each speaker before snapping back to the hushed shadows outside the tent.

"Great black up plan." Raven muttered sarcastically once Titania's wrath had moved on. "It's totally going to work."

"Well neither did _bring the pacifist!_ No offence Doc."

Doc hummed. "None taken. I'm useless in fights."

" _Shut up!"_ Gray snarled just as the voices outside subsided and shadowed figure approached the tent flap.

You could have cut the tension with a knife, Rory thought, as the robed figured ducked into the tent and straightened up. He was tall and broad shoulders and no one dared say a word as silently he reached up and removed the purple cloth that wound round his face.

There was a huge intake of breathe and Rory hissed as the man's brown and heavily scarred face became visible.

" _You._ " Lucy gasped but the man did not acknowledge her instead he stared straight at Rory and she found herself locking eyes with the man from Okator's Tomb. In the bright light of day that shined through tent she could see just how scarred his face really was. The entirety of his cheeks and forehead were covered in tiny white crosses, dark hair poking out from under his purple turban. Rory gulped under his intense gaze. She could feel the others in the tent watching her, staying silent like she'd suggested.

"Tombraider, Duchess of the Thieves Guild." The man announced, his voice just as deep and baritone as it had been within the tomb."You have something that belongs to me."

 _Crap._


End file.
